A fire and explosions disrupted processing at Venezuela's Cardón refinery on October 6, 2024.
Why it matters: Cardón is a major part of Venezuela's refining system, so disruption at an affected unit could affect domestic fuel availability and refined-product exports. The scope of the impact remains unclear because reporting does not establish that all refinery operations stopped.
- Local reporting said the incident began at about 3:25 p.m. local time, with three explosions heard before flames appeared.
- Cardón has stated processing capacity of about 310,000 barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
- A republished Reuters report said a gas line connected to Cardón's diesel hydrotreater and the refinery's boilers were affected.
- As of October 6, 2024, PDVSA had not released a damage assessment or restart timeline.
Venezuela's Cardón refinery experienced a fire and explosions on October 6, 2024, disrupting processing at an affected unit. Local reporting said the incident began at about 3:25 p.m. local time, with three explosions heard before flames appeared. Personnel were evacuated, and the fire was reportedly extinguished in less than an hour.
A Reuters report republished by Devdiscourse said the fire began at a gas line connected to Cardón's diesel hydrotreater. Reuters sources also said the incident affected the refinery's boilers. The available reporting does not establish that every refinery operation stopped, so the disruption is more precisely described as affecting processing and associated operations.
Local reporting said no injuries were reported, but that account was unconfirmed by an official casualty assessment as of October 6, 2024.
Cardón is Venezuela's second-largest refinery, with stated processing capacity of about 310,000 barrels per day, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's Venezuela assessment. It is part of the PDVSA-operated Paraguaná Refining Center, which also includes the Amuay refinery and has stated capacity of about 955,000 barrels per day.
The refinery was already operating under constraints. Reuters sources said one crude distillation unit and the fluid catalytic cracker had been halted because of insufficient feedstock. The EIA assessment said the Paraguaná complex operated at roughly 10% of nameplate capacity as of October 2023. That is historical context, not a measure of Cardón's operating level immediately before the incident.
As of October 6, 2024, PDVSA had not responded to Reuters requests for comment, and Venezuelan authorities had not released a formal assessment of the cause, damage or restart timeline. The outage's effect on domestic fuel markets or refined-product exports remained unquantified and should not be treated as a confirmed loss of 310,000 barrels per day.
By the numbers
- 310,000 barrels per day - Cardón's stated processing capacity
- 955,000 barrels per day - stated capacity of the Paraguaná Refining Center
- 10% - Paraguaná's reported operating level relative to nameplate capacity in October 2023
Yes, but: The incident disrupted processing at an affected unit, but available reporting does not show that all Cardón refinery operations stopped or establish a loss of the refinery's full 310,000-barrel-per-day capacity.