Firefighters say that the Petrochemical Complex in Venezuela has restarted following the earthquake.

The local chief of fire fighters said that the?Moron Petrochemical Complex in Venezuela, the second largest in the country, would restart?on Friday?after an?preventive shut down due to earthquakes which caused damage to infrastructure.

The quakes, which killed more than 160 people, left Venezuela's vast oil and ?gas infrastructure mostly untouched, including the 146,000-barrel-per-day El Palito refinery ?in central Carabobo state near the epicenter, according to preliminary reports ?from workers. The workers said that assessments will continue as the repairs are completed this week.

Carlos Miquileno is the head of "firefighters" for Moron and Urama. He also stated that Planta Centro in the central region was expected to resume supply on Thursday.

Sources from 'that center' had earlier said that workers from the Moron complex were?told to stay away while an initial damage assessment was being conducted. They also added that a leaking storage tank from Wednesday had been discovered.

The leakage was not?repaired immediately. State petrochemical company Pequiven and PDVSA have not provided information about ?the status of its ?operations.Venezuela's oil ministry did not ?immediately reply to a request for comment. (Reporting and additional reporting by Marianna Pararaga, Vivian Sequera, Sheila Dang, Tibisay Romero)

(source: Reuters)