Transforming coke from the Orinoco Oil Belt for iron and steel works

Venezuelan Minister of Petroleum and Mining Rafael Ramírez reported on a project to install a coke burning plant which would utilize some of the 6.5 million tons of coke yielded by Venezuelan state-run oil company Pdvsa on an annual basis. 

Ramírez would not provide further details on the project, its basic engineering features (already contracted) or costs. However, he underlined, "The idea is making our burning plant here, and we will do it together with he enterprises of the Venezuelan Guayana Corporation (CVG), which is our main destination, although we also want to export." 

The minister explained that turned coke for iron and steel works could be used by Guayana basic enterprises. It can be also exported to Brazil, which needs approximately the same volume of coke produced in Venezuela. "Our economies are in mesh," Ramírez pointed out. 

Another use would be as fuel for thermoelectric stations, in the context of agreements signed with companies from China, South Korea and Japan (Mitsubishi).

There are plans as well to process coke and use it as fertilizer. "We are trying to find a niche for these by-products," Ramírez proclaimed. 

These plans will be concomitant with the exchange of houses for coke with Turkey and Italy. "The current output is very high, and it will double in the future. For this reason, we are looking for industrial placement of coke," Minister Ramírez affirmed.