Ecuador's state oil producer Petroecuador on Thursday declared a 60-day emergency at the South American nation's largest oil refinery, its second emergency in one month, after a fire this week caused damage to some fuel tanks.
Petroecuador said it had identified damages at two fuel tanks and in an electrical substation at its Esmeraldas refinery in northern Ecuador, which was affecting operational capacity.
"This led to the emergency shutdown of key units and auxiliary steam and power systems," the company said in a statement, adding the emergency period would allow Petroecuador to speed up its repair work.
Liquefied petroleum gas is being supplied according to availability and necessary scheduling would be assessed to attend to domestic demand, it said
Fuel prices are regulated by an external agency and have not changed, said Petroecuador.
Operations at the refinery have been suspended since Monday due to a fire. Petroecuador said at the time that all personnel had been safely evacuated and no injures were reported.
At the end of April, Petroecuador declared a separate 60-day emergency at the refinery due to damages from a magnitude 6.3 earthquake that struck the area.
(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Sandra Maler and Michael Perry)
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