Refidomsa inaugurates four new spheres of 240,000 barrels of LPG

The following is a machine translation of a Refidomsa release

With the presence of President Luis Abinader, the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa) inaugurated this Tuesday four new spheres for the storage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) that increase its reserve capacity to 380,000 barrels.

The spheres were built with an investment of 91 million dollars, the largest in the company's history, and executed in a period of 30 months.

It is also the largest increase in reserve capacity for this derivative, going from 140,000 barrels, sufficient for only 14 days of consumption, to the new availability for 40 days.

Highlighting the impact of the infrastructure, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Dr. Leonardo Aguilera, said that this is the realization of a dream that represents “a historic event for Refidomsa, the Government and the country.”

He stressed that the infrastructure was built despite the adversities the country faced as a result of the pandemic, a situation that was overcome with hard work.

Aguilera detailed the construction process that began with the first piles that were released at the end of 2021, with the mechanical work beginning in 2022.

He recalled that, in 2022, President Abinader directly supervised the progress of the construction process of the spheres, to be aware of the development of the work.

"And while I kept the fire burning for these women (involved in the project), the president also kept the fire burning when he said to me in a very elegant and subtle way: Leonardo, how are the spheres going?" he explained.

He said that the Head of State offered sustained support to the project, and thanked him for his support in completing the work that is being inaugurated today.

He added that “this is a unique project in the Western Hemisphere, involving the simultaneous construction of four spheres with a capacity of 60,000 barrels each (10 million 80 thousand gallons), and all already certified under the ASME code of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers,” he said.

The executive reviewed the process of expanding Refidomsa's LPG capacity since the company was founded in 1973.

In this regard, he explained: “From a storage capacity of 12,800 barrels of LPG in 1973, in 1988 it rose to 42,400 barrels, and in 2002, with two additional spheres of 13,800 barrels each, the storage capacity was increased to 70 thousand barrels, which upon acquiring OPUSIVA in 2009, we doubled to 140 thousand barrels, which allowed to date storage inventory of 13 to 14 days.”

Aguilera said that the spheres are added to the ongoing improvements made to the Puerto Viejo gas terminal in Azua; a new oil pipeline to the port of Haina; improvements to the port of Nizao, and an inter-institutional agreement with the Itabo company to make the ship terminal at the Haina Occidental pier more functional and efficient.

“During this process we had to face the main challenge for us: keeping the national market supplied with LPG,” he said, to ensure that this never failed.

The event was attended by the Ministers of Defense, Lieutenant General Carlos Fernández Onofre; of Finance, Jochi Vicente; of Administration of the Presidency, Andrés Bautista; of Energy and Mines, Joel Santos, and of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs, Víctor “Ito” Bisonó.

Also, heads of state agencies, local officials, businessmen and other guests.