sg.biz.yahoo.com Friday January 31, 6:21 AM

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--The 495,000 barrels-a-day Hovensa LLC refinery in the U.S. Virgin Islands received its first shipment of Venezuelan crude oil this past weekend since its joint venture partner, state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA (E.PVZ), declared force majeure on Dec. 6, Amerada Hess (AHC) officials said Thursday at the company's fourth-quarter earnings teleconference.

Force majeure is a situation in which contract obligations can't be met because of an extraordinary, unforeseen event.

The refinery had been running at approximately 350,000 to 360,000 b/d, down from its normal operating rate of 450,000 b/d, since the Venezuelan supply was cut, which, officials said, wasn't an economical level at which to operate.

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AdultsHess officials said that while Hovensa isn't yet getting full shipments of crude oil from Venezuela in terms of contracted amounts, the refining margin is now in the profitable category. Now that Venezuelan shipments appear to have been restored, even at reduced levels, run rates will increase, an Amerada Hess official said during the teleconference. Hovensa LLC is a 50%-50% joint venture between Amerada Hess Corp. and Petroleos de Venezuela, SA.

-By Rose Marton, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2059; rose.marton@dowjones.com