Earthquake hits Venezuela's energy infrastructure: largest refinery shuts down due to power outage

Two deadly earthquakes hit Venezuela’s energy system, forcing the country’s largest refinery to shut down after a power outage and casting a shadow over prospects for domestic fuel supply.

According to CCTV News, on the 28th local time, Jorge Rodríguez, President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, announced that the death toll from the strong earthquake that struck Venezuela on the 24th had risen to 1,450. Reuters reported that Venezuela’s largest refinery, Amuay, stopped operations on Sunday due to a power outage. The refinery is a core component of the Paraguana Refining Center, with a daily processing capacity of 955,000 barrels and a designed capacity of up to 645,000 barrels per day. After power was restored that evening, workers began restarting each production unit, especially the crude oil distillation units.

Meanwhile, the medium-sized refinery El Palito, with a daily capacity of 146,000 barrels, and the adjacent Moron Petrochemical Complex were also unable to fully resume production due to persistently unstable power supply. Venezuela’s Ministry of Petroleum said the earthquake did not affect the country’s crude oil production and exports, but warned that if refineries and related facilities could not maintain stable operations, after people resumed normal life in the aftermath of the quake, domestic supplies of fuel and petrochemical products might struggle to meet demand.

The earthquake has already caused at least 1,450 deaths, and power supply to Venezuela’s national industrial facilities, refineries, businesses, and residents is facing severe challenges.

Power Outage: From Start to End

Media reports citing factory workers and nearby residents said that the Amuay refinery suffered a power outage on Sunday and was forced to shut down. This is the second refinery to fall into a power-loss predicament following two recent strong earthquakes.

Before the earthquake, the actual daily crude oil processing volume at the Amuay refinery was about 137,000 barrels, making it a key facility for ensuring fuel allocation within Venezuela. Some workers said that in addition, the power plants and industrial facilities located in the western Falcon State were also facing a water shortage problem, further dragging down normal operations. After power was restored, two sources confirmed that workers had started restarting the production lines in an orderly manner.

Amuay’s shutdown is not an isolated case, but a reflection of the systemic pressure bearing down on Venezuela’s post-earthquake energy system. The El Palito refinery and the Moron Petrochemical Complex are located in the central region, and due to persistently unstable power supply, they are also stuck in a situation where they cannot fully resume work.

Multiple sources said that instability in the power system and shortages of industrial water are compounding pressures, making it difficult to speed up the recovery process for the above facilities. Venezuela’s energy infrastructure has long been fragile, and the earthquake’s impact further exposed deep-rooted problems stemming from insufficient system resilience.

Crude Oil Exports Unaffected, Domestic Fuel Supply Worries

Venezuela’s Ministry of Petroleum stated clearly that the earthquake did not affect the country’s crude oil production or exports—export revenue is a core source of Venezuela’s fiscal income. However, the risks to domestic market supplies of fuel and petrochemical products cannot be overlooked.

The ministry warned that once social order is restored after the earthquake and people return to their jobs, if refineries and supporting facilities are still unable to operate stably at that time, domestic supply shortfalls will face substantial pressure. This potential bottleneck is one of the most troublesome hidden risks in Venezuela’s current post-earthquake economic recovery process.

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