PETROLEOS de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) is understood to be planning to construct a pipeline through Nicaragua to transport oil from the Caribbean to the Pacific, by-passing the Panama Canal. The plans were put forward by officials of the Nicaraguan-Venezuelan oil firm Alba Petroleos de Nicaragua (Albanic), which is managed by Nicaragua’s Association of Nicaraguan Municipalities (Amunic).
Speaking in December, Albanic's presdient Jose Pena said that PDVSA's also was interested in building a refinery in Nicaragua to supply Central America with products.
Albanic's vice-president Dionisio Marenco, who is also the mayor of Managua, said the pipeline would serve as an alternative to the Panama Canal, which is too narrow to allow passage of the largest of modern oil tankers. Mr Marenco said the pipeline would boost exports of Nicaraguan oil products made from Venezuelan crude to China and Japan as well as the Pacific Coast of Central America. Currently, Nicaragua's only refinery is Esso Caribbean & Central America's 20,000brl/d facility in Managua.
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