SANTO DOMINGO. - The Dominican Petroleum Refinery guarantees the fuel supply despite damages caused by Tropical Storm Noel to processing terminal at the mouth of the Nizao river, 15 miles west of the capital.

On Friday Refinery president Rubén Montas said the storm’s effects are still felt in facilities, which are undergoing repairs to a pipe that takes crude to the plant at Haina, and damaged by the Nizao.

He said though the terminal which is out of service processes an average 30,000 barrels of crude every day, the official guaranteed the supply. "We have a storage capacity in the refinery that can replace to the market for 10 to 12 days, despite that we are studying an alternative to increase the storage capacity next year and be prepared before any eventuality. We guarantee there will be no supply shortage."

Montás said to revert the deficit they have turned to the international market and the detour of tankers to the port at Haina. "We have resorted to international trade so that the amount of fuel which we produce in the plant which is out  service is bought in that market until such time that we can restore the injection of crude through the affected pipe. Fortunately it was already possible to determine where the breakage of this pipe took place, which is buried three meters deep."

The refinery chief spoke after making a donation of two million pesos to the Haina Industrial Companies Association, to help Noel’s victims in the zone.