Petroecuador declares emergency at Ecuador's largest refinery after quake

QUITO, April 30 (Reuters) - Ecuador's state-run oil company Petroecuador has declared an emergency at the country's largest refinery after finding damage caused by an earthquake, but it said on Wednesday oil exports and domestic fuel distribution are not expected to be affected by the measure.

Petroecuador's Esmeraldas refinery in northern Ecuador is the country's largest, with a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day.

The area was hit by a magnitude 6.3 earthquake off the country's Pacific coast on Friday, forcing some oil infrastructure to temporarily shut down, damaging some buildings and injuring at least 20 people.

Petroecuador said that after suspending operations as a preventative measure it had found that several of its units at the refinery had been affected by the quake, including a storage tank, heat infrastructure and a visbreaking unit.

However, it noted that neither country's fuel stocks nor oil exports should not be impacted.

"Fuel stocks in the country are guaranteed and actions are being coordinated regarding the necessary contingency imports," Petroecuador said in a statement. "Crude exports are continuing as planned."