CARACAS - Venezuelan state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) has made a bid to operate the Isla refinery in Curaçao. That was confirmed by the former president of the company, Luis Giusti, according to Platt's Global Alert.

The contract with PdVSA expired at the end of 2019. Previous attempts to find a successor to the Refineria di Kòrsou (RdK) have failed. The last party negotiated until September 2021 was the German company CORC. The company was unable to secure the necessary financing.

At least two Venezuelan business groups are said to be interested in the refinery. The Aldea Group of Luis Gallegos and Luis Alba would also be interested in a takeover of the Isla.

The committee in charge of the search for a new strategic partner for the refinery made a selection of possible operators in January. A total of twenty companies have expressed an interest in operating the refinery.