PUERTO LA CRUZ

city, northeastern Anzotegui estado (state), northeastern Venezuela, situated along the Caribbean Sea. The former fishing village has become a busy, thriving, populous port city with the development of the petroleum industry since the 1930s in the eastern Llanos (plains). Pipelines running from the Anzotegui fields and from fields in neighbouring Gurico and Monagas states carry the petroleum to Puerto La Cruz, where immense storage facilities and refineries are located. From Puerto La Cruz, petroleum is accessible for industrial and domestic use in Venezuela's densely populated central-highlands region. The city has also shared in the urban-industrial growth experienced by the BarcelonaGuantaPuerto La Cruz area. Pop. (1990 est.) 60,546.