Cienfuegos, January 7 (RHC)-- The Quality Control Laboratory at the huge Cienfuegos Oil Refinery, a project developed by Cuba with the support of the ALBA group of nations, has received technical certification for its ability to guarantee the highest quality of production.

This laboratory is the first of the projects underwritten by the group of Latin American and Caribbean nations –known by its Spanish acronym of ALBA— to be certified for excellence in the Island.  The laboratory will oversee this year the quality of almost 19 million barrels of oil products to be processed at the Cienfuegos refinery.

This installation has become one of the most modern and dependable in the world and is the flagship of oil processing industries in the Caribbean, according to Venezuelan engineer Ramon Curiacapa, who toured the industrial facility. This, in statements to Cuban reporters.

The refinery and the laboratory are now fully protected against the serious storms that are common in the area, he said, noting that improvements include the technical restoration of a tank holding twenty thousand cubic meters of oil.