SAN NICOLAS – Sept. 18, 2017 – Today CITGO Aruba Refinery kicks off detailed field inspection work, a crucial milestone CITGO Aruba and partners have been working towards for months. The main inspection work contractor is YTT, a consortium formed by Technip France and Y&V Ingeniería & Construcción. 
 
Since signing the Main Contractor Service Agreement on June 15, project partners including CITGO Aruba Refinery, CITGO Project Management Team, YTT Consortium and many other local subcontractors and contractors have been working hard to complete the planning and preparations necessary to reach today’s milestone.
 
“The announcement of this project moving forward as planned is exciting for CITGO Aruba and our partners,” said Jose Pereira, Acting President and CEO of CITGO Petroleum Corporation, and Director of CITGO Aruba Holding, LLC. “Today, our subcontracting services for CITGO Aruba will begin. This will secure the successful progression to the next phase of the project, which will continue to require our best efforts in securing the best processes and the most capable teams. We are also committed to executing every phase of the project in the most socially-responsible manner.”
 
This initial phase will include, in addition to Field Inspections, repairs of selected high priority equipment, procurement of long lead items, as well as the initial stages of several capital and environmental projects for the refurbishment and startup of the Refinery to produce upgraded crude oil. Inspections also will provide detailed information to further specify and finalize the project scope and Class II estimate.
 
Consortium representative and Project Director of YTT Alejandro Carvallo said that the Refinery has been an integral part of the Island producing growth and benefits for the Aruban people since its inauguration in 1929. “It was partially shut down five years ago, and now it is being refurbished to be operated as an upgrader for heavy oil processing. The Main Contractor Service Agreement for the CITGO Aruba Refinery Upgrader Project is intended to provide qualified engineering, procurement, project management, and subcontracting services required for the refinery refurbishing project.” 
 
Each day, progress is being made towards full reactivation of the CITGO Aruba Refinery. Once fully operational the facility is expected to provide many socio-economic benefits to Aruba. Already the facility has a workforce of approximately 500 people, including CITGO Aruba Refinery employees and contractors, and this number is expected to increase continuously in the upcoming weeks and months as the project moves forward.

About CITGO Aruba Refining
CITGO Aruba Refining N.V. (CAR) is an Aruban company within a group of operating companies under PDV Holding, Inc., an indirect owner of CITGO Petroleum Corporation and subsidiary of Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., the national oil company of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. CAR is the current operator of the Aruba Refinery, located in San Nicolas, Aruba which is owned by Refineria di Aruba N.V. (RDA), an entity wholly-owned by the Government of Aruba.