Oil leaks off Venezuelan coast, sources say

An oil spill that appeared to originate from Venezuela’s El Palito refinery several days ago has contaminated a bay on the country’s north-central coast in the Caribbean Sea, five sources told Reuters on Saturday (18).

A video shows oil on the shore of a beach in the city of Boca de Aroa.

There was no immediate comment from state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela PDVSA or the Oil Ministry.

The El Palito refinery, with a capacity to process 146,000 barrels of crude oil per day, is the smallest oil refining complex in Venezuela and is located in the municipality of Puerto Cabello, on the coast of the central state of Carabobo.

“The spill came from El Palito. This morning some beaches in Boca de Aroa woke up with a lot of hydrocarbons on the coast and this affected some boats, some artisanal fishing boats,” one of the sources told Reuters. Another source said he had seen three large oil slicks that had reached the coast.

Source: CNN Brasil

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