WILLEMSTAD – U.S. sanctions policy toward Venezuela directly affected a multimillion-dollar attempt to restart asphalt production at Curaçao’s refinery complex, contributing to the suspension of a project in which more than US$20 million had already been invested.
The development is detailed in the 2024 and 2025 financial statements of 2BAYS, formerly Refineria di Kòrsou. The documents show how decisions taken in Washington have influenced commercial projects at the former Isla refinery while also shaping Curaçao’s options for renewed energy cooperation with Venezuela.
In June 2023, 2BAYS entered into an agreement with Global Oil Management Group to restart the production of asphalt and related products at the refinery complex.
According to 2BAYS, Global invested more than US$20 million between early 2024 and early 2025 in repairing and modifying the asphalt installations.
The business model depended on Venezuelan crude oil as feedstock.
Global was initially able to import that oil under a specific authorization granted by the U.S. government. However, the authorization was subsequently withdrawn as a consequence of changes in U.S. geopolitical measures.
According to 2BAYS, the loss of the authorization directly affected the financial feasibility of the operation.
Activities were terminated in April 2025 and personnel were demobilized.
Global subsequently continued evaluating whether the project could eventually resume. The financial statements indicate that developments in Venezuela could potentially improve the prospects for restarting the operation.
Those developments coincide with a broader change in activity at Bullenbaai.
According to 2BAYS, there has been a partial reopening of the Venezuelan market since January 2026. This has generated a significant stream of revenue from terminal and storage services, with available storage capacity at Bullenbaai becoming fully utilized.
2BAYS does not state that the renewed Venezuelan activity is a direct consequence of changes in U.S. sanctions. However, the financial statements demonstrate how closely Curaçao’s commercial opportunities involving Venezuela remain connected to developments in U.S. policy.
At the same time, 2BAYS has increasingly concluded that the future of the refinery complex is unlikely to involve restarting the entire refinery.
Among the factors cited is existing refining overcapacity in the surrounding region, particularly along the U.S. Gulf Coast. The age of Curaçao’s refinery technology and the extensive maintenance backlog are additional obstacles to a complete restart.
Instead, 2BAYS is focusing on the possible restart of individual installations and commercially viable activities, including storage, blending and distillation.
The experience with the asphalt project illustrates both the opportunities and risks of that strategy. More than US$20 million was invested in preparing one operation for production, but its viability ultimately depended heavily on access to Venezuelan crude and the U.S. authorization needed to make that supply possible.
Meanwhile, the increased use of Bullenbaai since January suggests that commercial opportunities involving Venezuela remain substantial when geopolitical and sanctions conditions permit them.
For Curaçao, this means that the future of the former refinery site is increasingly tied not to the return of the traditional Isla refinery model, but to individual energy, storage and processing projects whose feasibility can be strongly influenced by decisions made in Washington and developments in Venezuela.