Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA on Thursday said on Friday it was negotiating the continuation of its lease of Curacao’s Isla refinery but was open to Chinese partners following a preliminary deal between the island and China’s Guangdong Zhenrong Energy to operate the complex. PDVSA has for decades operated the refinery, which opened in 1918, under a lease agreement. But the cash-poor company has been reluctant to invest some $1.5 billion that Curacao authorities requested several years back to modernize the 335,000 barrels-per-day facility. China’s Guangdong Zhenrong Energy Co, a commodity trader with strong backing from Beijing, signed a binding framework pact with Curacao’s government in November. If the deal goes ahead, the Chinese firm would replace PDVSA […]