Caracas, May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the
state oil company, said an 85,000 barrel-a-day hydrotreater it
closed this week for scheduled maintenance will remain idled for
45 days.

The hydrotreater, which processes vacuum gas oil to make
gasoline and other products for export, is part of PDVSA's largest
refinery, known as Amuay. PDVSA said the programmed shut-down
won't affect its trading commitments.

Amuay, located in the northern Paraguana refinery complex,
produces about 485,000 barrels a day of products, mostly for
export. It has the capacity to process about 635,000 barrels a day
of oil.

PDVSA, the world's third-largest oil company, is among the
largest oil refiners.

Bloomberg

-- spider (spider0@usa.net), May 31, 2000