Environmental management in oil refineries

Petroleos de Venezuela, S. A. (PDVSA), is a holding company whose shares are owned by the government, and under which six major affiliated companies operate: four dedicated to oil production and refining-oriented activities, one to operating petrochemical complexes, and one solely to investigations of interest to the oil industry. This centralized general management from which policies and guidelines flow down to peripheral operational arms, leads to an organization by functions, such as exploration, production, refining, and others. Environmental affairs is one such function, but because it pertains to all operational aspects of the oil industry, it has been organized so as to be represented within each function by trained personnel, who respond administratively to the operational activity in the branch in which they are employed, but follow the guidelines and technical instructions originated through the environmental affairs manager of each affiliate company.