June 25 (UPI) -- The Cardón refinery, Venezuela's second-largest with a capacity of 310,000 barrels per day, shut down after a power outage halted all operations. State oil company PDVSA tried to resolve the issue by transferring equipment from the nearby Amuay refinery.
Cardón, located on the Paraguaná Peninsula, has recently played a key role in refining heavy crude from the Orinoco Belt. But the power outage once again exposed the fragile state of Venezuela's oil sector, The Rio Times reported Monday.
Of Venezuela's six refineries, only five remain operational, all running at no more than 20% of total capacity. The country's aging refining system, plagued by frequent shutdowns and low output, has deteriorated after years of underinvestment, poor management and international sanctions that have limited access to spare parts.
Venezuela holds one of the world's largest crude oil reserves -- more than 300 billion barrels -- and was once a leading global producer. But output has plunged over the past two decades, with the decline accelerating under President Nicolás Maduro's administration.
Production began falling early in the Chávez era, dropping from about 3 million barrels per day in 2000 to 2.3 million by 2013-2014, despite high oil prices at the time, according to the Economics Observatory. The downturn worsened between 2015 and 2017, and by 2018 output had fallen to 1.2 million barrels per day.
