Authorities: Fire at El Palito refinery may be put out in the next hours

Asdrúbal Chávez, the Vice-President of Refining, Trade and Supply of state-run oil company Pdvsa, reassured that a fire caused by a lightning in El Palito refinery, north central Carabobo state, is currently affecting one naphtha storage tank only, adding that the situation is "completely under control."

Further, he informed that the other refinery facilities are operating normally.

"We are processing 135,000 bpd of crude oil, which is the normal capacity. All the processing plants are operating normally. The filling operations of fuel tanker trucks, as well as the operations of our sea terminal, have remained normal," Chávez told state-run television channel VTV in a phone interview.

Additionally, he asserted that the incident would not result in fuel shortage, as "the inventory available for the Venezuelan market is absolutely normal, at the normal level of 10-12 days."