Venezuela to send two gasoline cargoes to US this month: official

Paraguana, Venezuela (Platts)--5Oct2005

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA plans to send two cargoes of gasoline
to the US this month to help relieve supply shortages caused by Hurricane
Katrina, a company official said.
     "There should be at least two this month," PDVSA's Refining Director
Alejandro Granado told reporters late Tuesday. The first shipment arrived in
the US at the weekend and the additional cargoes "will give a total of 1-mil
b/d," Granado said.
     Venezuela offered the 1-mil bbl of extra gasoline after several
refineries in and around Louisiana were unable to restart following Katrina's
devastation. The fuel is being distributed by PDVSA's downstream subsidiary,
Citgo Petroleum.
     Granado added that Citgo was currently working on restoring operations at
its Lake Charles refinery in Louisiana. Within two to three weeks the facility
"could be 70% operational," he said.

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