Workers at Venezuela-run Curacao refinery protest after latest power outage halts operations

Power outage halts operations at Curacao refinery

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao — Hundreds of workers at a Venezuela-run oil refinery in Curacao demonstrated Tuesday over another halt in operations caused by a power outage.

The latest blackout occurred Sunday evening at the Isla oil refinery, where problems with electricity and water supplies led to at least five temporary shutdowns last year. A local utility on the Dutch Caribbean island has struggled to fix the problem.

Angelo Meyer, president of the Petroleum Workers’ Federation of Curacao, said the blackouts mean bonuses for productivity will likely not be paid to union workers, leading to the frustrations behind Tuesday’s protest rally.

“Management argues that the power outages have caused losses in the millions. Here we are in 2010, and the problems continue,” Meyer said.

Curacao’s refinery is operated under a long-term contract by Venezuela’s state-oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, and it can produce about 220,000 barrels a day.

Company officials did not return calls Tuesday.

Isla workers are also concerned that the refinery might close because Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez warned in early January, without giving details, that his government could reconsider its involvement with the refinery.

Chavez has protested that Dutch Caribbean islands let U.S. military counter-drug flights to operate from their airstrips.