DR1: Petroleum refinery proposed

Three concrete proposals from foreign investors interested in building a new petroleum refinery in the Manzanillo Bay area have been received by the government, according to Listin Diario. The facility would require an investment of US$1.5 billion and would have the capacity for refining 300,000 barrels of oil per day, 20% of which would go to the local market, and the remaining 80% for export to the US. The refinery would be located in Manzanillo, Montecristi province, in the northwest of the country and would be built together with a 400-megawatt power generator. The Dominican Petroleum Refinery currently processes 33,000 barrels of crude oil daily, the same capacity it had when it was installed in 1973. Present demand is between 150,000 and 160,000 barrels per day depending on demand from the electricity generating system. The investment offers have come from the US, the Middle East, Europe and! Israel and were submitted to the government commission headed by Aristides Fernandez Zucco, president of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa) and the Industry and Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Castillo. Last month, President Fernandez ordered several cabinet officials to begin negotiations with petroleum companies in Asia and Europe that might be interested in installing refineries and deposit or storage centers in the DR for domestic use and export to the US.