Storm Omar hits Venezuela oil refinery, tankers

CARACAS (Reuters) - Tropical storm Omar disrupted activity at Venezuela's 200,000 barrel-per-day Puerto La Cruz refinery on Tuesday, knocking out power to some units and forcing authorities to suspend tankers' movements at the facility's port, the state oil company said.

The port area affected included the OPEC nation's main terminal for loading crude from heavy grade upgrading facilities, the company PDVSA said.

Omar grew in strength on Tuesday as it crossed the Caribbean.

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and a slew of other Caribbean islands were put under a hurricane watch on Tuesday

In Venezuela, power outages hit urban areas around the refinery on Tuesday, according to a Reuters witness.

(Reporting by Saul Hudson and Jorge Silva; Editing by Marguerita Choy)