Floods cause oil spill at PDVSA's El Palito refinery

Heavy rains and flash floods caused a "minor" fuel spill at Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA's El Palito refinery in Carabobo state, a PDVSA official told BNamericas. Despite the spill "the refinery is operating normally," the official said. The fuel spilled is of the type known as RC2. El Palito is right on the beach but it was not immediately known how much RC2 was spilled. This is the second incident involving an RC2 spill in a week, the official said. PDVSA is investigating the cause of an RC2 spill that occurred in Barinas state on Saturday night. Carabobo state has been declared in a state of emergency after heavy rains caused mudslides and flashfloods that have so far killed a dozen people. At least one of the fatalities has occurred in El Palito, according to radio reports, although the official was unable to confirm if the victim was a PDVSA worker. Seven states have been declared in emergency, including Carabobo and Falcón, where the Paraguaná refinery is. The facility is operating normally, according to PDVSA officials.