Venezuela's Cardon oil refinery, which had been paralyzed by a major electrical fault for two days, resumed production on Sunday.

Media reports said that a fault in the electrical system had halted operations in the refinery early Friday morning, fortunately without any injury to personnel, significant material damage, or environmental effect.

The refinery activated its emergency plan immediately and stopped all operations. It then initially restored vapor and electrical systems based on its safety-startup program, and then resumed operations step by step in different units.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA said in a statement that oil shipments would not be affected because there were enough inventories to guarantee supplies. The company has organized a committee to investigate the incident.

The Cardon refinery produces about 305,000 barrels a day. It is part of the Paraguana refining complex in eastern Venezuela which produces 940,000 barrels a day and is Venezuela's main source of gasoline exports.

Venezuela is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter and the only Latin American member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). The country produces about 3 million barrels a day.

Source: Xinhua