sg.biz.yahoo.com Monday January 20, 10:43 PM

CARACAS (Dow Jones)--The planned restart over the weekend of the 335,000 barrels per day La Isla refinery at Curacao has failed due to technical glitches, a refinery spokeswoman said Monday.

"We have tried to restart several units, but technical problems have forced us to delay plans to bring the plant back on line," the spokeswoman said. She added that due to the technical problems certain parts of the units have to be flown in from abroad. She couldn't say by how long the planned startup has been delayed. The plant was scheduled to be back at full capacity within two weeks.

An attempt to restart a crude distillation unit that didn't suffer from technical problems will be made later Monday, she said.

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AdultsStorage facilities have been drawn down sufficiently enough to restart the processing of around 200,000 b/d of gasoline. The plant was forced to shut down after an oil strike hit production and exports of Venezuela's state-owned oil monopoly Petroleos de Venezuela SA (E.PVZ) and storage facilities were full.

The production and exporting of around 200,000 b/d of gasoline are crucial for the gasoline supply in Venezuela, hit by an oil strike which entered its eighth week Monday. The La Isla refinery is leased by PdVSA.

The Venezuelan government still depends mostly on gasoline imports to fight a gasoline shortage. Only its 200,000 b/d Puerto La Cruz refinery is functioning. It's producing around 75,000 b/d.

By Fred Pals, Dow Jones Newswires; 58212-5641339; fred.palsdowjones.com;