Puerto José is a sea port in northeastern Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

, on the Caribbean Sea

Caribbean Sea

The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....

, in the state of Anzoátegui, about 10km west of Barcelona

Barcelona, Anzoátegui

Barcelona is the capital of Anzoátegui State, Venezuela and was founded in 1671. Together with Puerto La Cruz, Lecheria and Guanta, Barcelona forms one of the most important urban areas of Venezuela with a population of approximately 950,000.-History:...

. Position: 10°06' N / 64°52'W. It is home to an important oil tanker

Oil tanker

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...

 loading complex, the Complejo criogenico de Oriente José, created in 1985 and now more often referred to by its original name, the Cryogenic Complex of Oriente, San Joaquin Plant. The complex is used to load several of Venezuela's petroleum products onto oil tankers, including Ameriven-Hamaca, Cerro Negro, Sincor, and Zuata Sweet.

The José industrial zone comprises one part of the Eastern Cryogenic Complex (ACCRO), which includes refineries, petrochemical plants, and gas compression plants.

The complex consists of several separate terminals on the South side of Bahía de Barcelona. The port exports refined petroleum products, crude oil and containers. About 180 ships with a total of 30 million tons deadweight (tdwt) are using the port every year.

The deepest and longest berth is the Petroterminal José (TAECJ Terminal). Ships up to 300,000 tdwt can berth at the Bitor Single Point Mooring buoy (SPM, 10°09'N / 64°50'W).

The complex consists further of a cryogenic jetty terminal (10°05.08'N / 64°51.5'W), two petrochemical docks (Petrozuata and SINCOR), an offshore platform terminal, and two SPM's. The offshore terminal and the SPM are connected to the shore by submarine pipelines.

Environmental Issues

The port of José and it's refinery sit adjacent to Mochima National Park

Mochima National Park

Mochima National Park is located in the States of Anzoátegui and Sucre , on the northeastern coast of Venezuela. The park covers 94,935 hectares and is made up of an exclusively marine area in its western sector , a coastal marine area that includes the Gulf of Santa Fé and Mochima Bay, and a...

. This proximity to an area of great natural beauty may prove to be of significant consequence if any oil spills were to arise.