China suitor tightens grip on Curacao oil project

China’s Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co will submit a plan by April to revamp a century-old oil refinery in Curacao, as it seeks to secure a $5.5 billion (4.34 billion pounds) project that will give China a foothold in the Caribbean’s second-largest oil refinery. Guangdong Zhenrong, a commodity trader with strong backing from Beijing, signed a binding framework pact with Curacao’s government on Nov. 19, Chen Bingyan, the firm’s director and chief negotiator for the venture, told Reuters, moving past a memorandum of understanding in September. If the deal goes ahead, the Chinese firm would replace Venezuela’s cash-strapped state oil firm PDVSA as operator of the 335,000 barrels per day (bpd) Isla refinery, tightening its grip on Venezuela’s oil industry. More…