Cienfuegos.- “Here we are today, staging again the battle for our full independence. We should be increasingly aware of the fact that in order to ensure our future development many things are needed. But one thing is fundamental –unity. Only united we will be truly independent and free, and make miracles, come true that what seems impossible. The Cienfuegos refinery is an example," said President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, who noted that the Venezuelan-Cuban union helped to complete the refinery.

The Venezuelan head of state explained that the commissioning of Cienfuegos Refinery forms an integral part of the plan of the new Bolivarian and revolutionary PDVSA to build ten new refineries and expand eight existing refineries in Latin American and the Caribbean over the next 10 years, at a cost estimated at USD 22 billion.

“This is the first of them, to bring the Venezuelan oil to Dominica, Nicaragua and Haiti, instead of taking it to the United States, as in the past. Today, the revolutionary Venezuela makes its energy capabilities and resources available, first of all, to the fellow peoples of the Caribbean and Latin America, playing the role appointed by geography and history, as the children of Miranda, Bolívar, José Martí and Tousando Betul,” he added.

Novel models
For his part, Cuban First Vice-President Raúl Castro said that Cuba had not been able to revive the facilities without the help of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of our Americas (ALBA). Together with Petrocaribe, these models which have never been used before in the world are intended to bring development and social well being and prove that building a better world is quite a possibility.

Fuel production will be not the only purpose of the refinery, but also processing of raw materials for the petrochemical sector. A petrochemical center will operate with gas from Venezuela and provide input to agriculture, such as fertilizers.

About 12 Venezuelan experts from El Palito and Puerto La Cruz refineries joined efforts with Cuban professionals, in addition to 64 foreign companies and 168 domestic companies attached to the Cuban State ministries, for commissioning of the Cienfuegos refinery.

Cienfuegos Refinery managing director Luis Gómez Gil reported that energy-related projects include, among others, the extension of the refinery to increase its processing capacity from 65,000 bpd to 108,000-150,000 bpd. Additionally, a survey is being conducted to enlarge the Hermanos Díaz refinery, located in Santiago de Cuba; widen the storage capacity at Matanzas Terminal; revive the Matanzas-Cienfuegos 180-kilometer pipeline, and engage in prospecting and drilling in six blocs for oil production in Pinar del Río province.