The American Office for Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sees the upgrader project at Aruba’s oil refinery as beneficial for state-run “Petroleos de Venezuela” PDVSA, which means it falls under the latest US sanctions against the embattled Maduro regime in Caracas.
PDSVA’s refining subsidiary Citgo must therefore stop all related activities on the island effective February 27. This means employees recruited for phase 2 of the venture at San Nicolas are going home. Director of government’s holding company “Refineria di Aruba” Alvin Koolman said there doesn’t appear to be much choice, as the plant was being prepared specifically to process heavy Venezuelan crude.
