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A power outage at Curaçao's 335,000 barrel per day (bpd) Isla oil refinery temporarily halted operations on Sunday, according to media reports.

The blackout is said to have affected the whole of Curaçao, including the plant that provides the Isla facility with electricity, water and steam.

The refinery, which is operated by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, is the second-largest in the Caribbean and makes up more than 10 percent of PDVSA's global refining capacity. A neighboring tank depot also has the capacity to store up to 16 million barrels of crude oil for the transportation of oil to East Asia.

The Isla facility has long been plagued by technical problems. A number of power outages have forced the facility to go offline on a number of occasions in recent years.

Also known as Emmastad Refinery, the plant is used by local bunker supplier Curoil N.V. as a product source for the sale of marine fuels to ships calling at Curaçao. At the Isla refinery jetties, Curoil supplies by barge to tankers loading or discharging at the oil terminal.

Curoil also supplies bunker fuel at the Mega Cruise Ship bunkers-only terminal, which opened in 1999. Located only 200 metres to the west of the main harbor inlet and extending some 100 metres into the sea, the Mega Cruise terminal was constructed primarily to accommodate the newest generation cruise liners. However, the installation of bunker facilities at the terminal also enables ex-pipe deliveries directly from its main depot at Willemstad, offering a 'bunkers-only' option for all types of vessels requiring marine fuel in Curaçao.

Curoil also supplies at Bullen Bay, Caracas Bay and Fuik Bay. Bullen Bay is a deep sea port, particularly suited for ULCC's or other large vessels working cargoes or calling for bunkers only. A wide range of IFO's as well as marine diesel oil (MDO) and marine gasoil (MGO) are supplied.