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The explosion rocked the Amuay refinery on Paraguana peninsula, Falcon state in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A gas leak is being blamed for the blast which sent huge fire balls into the air and damaged nearby buildings.

Local reports indicate that a 10-year-old boy was amongst the dead which were mainly comprised of National Guard troops guarding the facility in the west of the country.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez told national TV: "The gas cloud exploded, igniting at least two storage tanks and other facilities at the refinery.

"It was a significant explosion, there is appreciable damage to infrastructure and to houses opposite the refinery."

State Governor Stella Lugo told state TV: "We are deploying our whole fire service team, all our health team, the whole contingency plan on the orders of [President Hugo] Chavez to first of all care for the people affected by this emergency.”

The Amuay refinery has a capacity of 645,000 barrels per day and is part of the Paraguana Refining Center - one of the world's biggest refinery complexes with a capacity of 955,000 bpd.

A pipeline running from Zulia state to the Amuay refinery suffered a leak in late 2010.

Source: Upstream