CARACAS, Venezuela, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denied allegations that safety issues were ignored prior to a refinery explosion in the country.
At least 39 people were killed and dozens more were injured Friday when an explosion ignited two gas storage tanks at the Amuay refinery, the largest in Venezuela.
Chavez challenged claims that Petroleos de Venezuela, known by its initials PDVSA, ignored safety issues at the facility prior to the Friday explosion.
"It's impossible that there was a gas leak as much as a day before the explosion and none of our workers detected it," he was quoted by Bloomberg News as saying.
Bloomberg adds that a lack of materials prompted PDVSA to delay planned maintenance work at the refinery last year.
Strong winds in the area created difficulties for responders working to control the blaze. The accident is one of the deadliest and forced the shutdown of a facility capable of processing 645,000 barrels of oil per day.
Given Venezuela's dominance among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, the explosion is "a big deal," a hedge fund manager told Bloomberg.
Venezuelan Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez said production is expected to resume early this week.
