PDVSA could drop Curacao refinery lease – report

Venezuela may order state-run PDVSA to abandon its lease of  the Isla refinery because the U.S. military has been staging  “provocations” on Venezuela from Curacao, Oil Minister Rafael  Ramirez was quoted as saying. PDVSA has operated the Isla refinery since 1985 under a  long-term lease with the government of Curacao, a Dutch island  40 miles (65 km) north of the Venezuelan coast.

A PDVSA spokesman did not return a phone call seeking  comment.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has said the United  States is plotting to invade his country, in December accused  Curacao of allowing the Unites States to launch spy flights  over Venezuelan territory from the island. Dutch officials rejected the accusations, and the U.S. government has denied any plans for military incursion into  Venezuela.

The Isla refinery processes mostly Venezuelan crude oil,  and PDVSA has in recent years tried to negotiate a purchase of  the plant from Curacao’s government.