Venezuela's refinery accused of negligence

CARACAS - Neighbors of Amuay refinery and members of the Falcon's oil workers' union accused Petroleo De Venezuela S.A.(PDVSA), the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, of negligence in the wake of a deadly blast, which killed 41 people and injured 84 others on Saturday morning.

The company was blamed for not looking after a gas leak alert, according to local press Sunday.

The blast, which occurred on Saturday early morning at 1:11 am (0541 GMT) and the fires later due to the gas leak in Amuay refinery, razed 209 homes and 11 nearby shops, plus a Bolivarian National Guard facility.

Amuay in northeast Venezuelan state of Falcon is one of the three crude oil refineries of the Paraguana Refinery Complex, the second largest in the world.  

Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said Sunday in a television broadcast, "We are currently in the cooling and quenching works. Our processing areas are normal. We have made a programmed stop. Our effort now is to quench the fire in two tanks. "

Venezuelan officials said the blast affected nine fuel deposits but thanks to the fire fighters work, the fire was quickly controlled in seven of them.

Ramirez also said the domestic market's fuel supply is guaranteed, and "we have 10 days of stocktaking products such as fuel and diesel. There are 4 million fuel barrels stocked and we have a full production in the rest of the country's refineries."

The Venezuelan government has deployed a contingency operation immediately after the blast, including the evacuation of several families to safer places.

President Hugo Chavez, who arrived Sunday afternoon at Amuay refinery, expressed his government's mourning for the tragedy and called on the people to stay calm and help the affected people in Falcon state.