Petroecuador declares emergency at Ecuador's largest refinery after quake

Petroecuador, the state-run oil firm in Ecuador, declared an emergency on the day after an earthquake caused damage to the refinery. However the company said that the move is not expected affect oil exports or domestic fuel distribution.

Petroecuador’s Esmeraldas Refinery, located in the north of Ecuador, is the largest refinery on the continent. It has a daily capacity of 110.000 barrels.

A tornado has hit the area.

Magnitude 6.3 earthquake

The storm, which hit the Pacific Coast of Chile on Friday, caused some oil infrastructure to be temporarily shut down. It also damaged some buildings and injured at least 20 people.

Petroecuador reported that, after suspending its operations as a precaution, it found that several units of the refinery were affected by the earthquake, including a heat infrastructure, a storage tank and a visbreaking device.

It was noted, however, that neither the country's oil or fuel exports nor its stock of fuel should be affected.

Petroecuador issued a press release stating that "fuel stocks are guaranteed in the country and action is being coordinated in regards to the necessary contingency imported." "Crude is being exported as planned." (Reporting and writing by Alexandra Valencia, Marianna Pararaga and Sarah Morland, Editing by)

(source: Reuters)