Venezuela's PDVSA says "event" affects Amuay

CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov 25 (Reuters) Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA today said an ''operational event'' had affected a unit of the 640,000 barrel per day (bpd) Amuay refinery.

A Venezuelan newspaper today reported there had been an explosion at the facility.

PDVSA said in a statement that ''an operational event was registered that affected a furnace of the Hydrosulfurization Unit Number 4 of the Amuay refinery'' at 9:21 p.m. yesterday night.

The nationally circulating El Nacional newspaper on Saturday reported an explosion at Amuay and blackouts in the neighboring towns, citing witnesses in the area.

The statement did not define the operational event and did not confirm whether or not it had been an explosion. The unit was in startup, PDVSA said, following a maintenance stoppage announced in September.

It added that there had been no injuries, that other refinery units had not been affected, and that the company did not expect the event to affect fuel supply commitments.

PDVSA officials did not answer repeated phone calls from Reuters requesting clarification.

Reuters KR VP0017