|
Honduras Energy Sources
Honduras has for many years relied on fuelwood and
biomass
(mostly waste products from agricultural production) to
supply its
energy needs. The country has never been a producer of
petroleum
and depends on imported oil to fill much of its energy
needs. In
1991 Honduras consumed about 16,000 barrels of oil daily.
Honduras
spent approximately US$143 million, or 13 percent of its
total
export earnings, to purchase oil in 1991. The country's
one small
refinery at Puerto Cortés closed in 1993. Various Honduran
governments have done little to encourage oil exploration,
although
substantial oil deposits have long been suspected in the
Río Sula
valley and offshore along the Caribbean coast. An oil
exploration
consortium consisting of the Venezuelan state oil company,
Venezuelan Petroleum, Inc. (Petróleos de Venezuela,
S.A.--PDVSA),
Cambria Oil, and Texaco expressed interest in the
construction of
a refinery at Puerto Castilla in 1993, with production
aimed at the
local market.
Fuelwood and biomass have traditionally met about 67
percent of
the country's total energy demand; petroleum, 29 percent;
and
electricity, 4 percent. In 1987 Honduran households
consumed
approximately 60 percent of total energy used,
transportation and
agriculture used about 26 percent, and industry used about
14
percent. Food processing consumed about 50 percent of
industrial
sector energy, followed by petroleum and chemical
manufacturing.
Data as of December 1993
|
