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.
