Venezuelan MTBE plant lifts force majeure - source

Reuters, 05.20.03, 12:16 PM ET

NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - Super Octanos, the only plant in Venezuela that makes MTBE, an additive essential for production of cleaner-burning gasoline, lifted a force majeure on Monday and expects to ship cargoes of the product by the end of the month, a source with knowledge of the operations said on Tuesday.

The force majeure was put in place on April 26 after a explosion at the plant, the source told Reuters.

Super Octanos is located in Jose and is a joint venture between Ecofuel, a subsidiary of Italian oil and gas major Eni <ENI.MI> and Pequiven, a subsidiary of Venezuelan state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).