Venezuela: the long lines return to load gasoline due to lack of production from the refineries

The long lines of cars in front of gas stations are back in Venezuelaamid repeated incidents at refineries operated by state oil company PDVSA and insufficient imports of diesel and gasoline.

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In at least the past two years, drivers have had to queue for days to fill their tanks with gasoline, while farmers stopped work due to a lack of diesel to run trucks and machinery. The shortage had eased this year amid imports of Iranian oil, which helped boost refinery output.

But the refining network of Venezuela It is again operating at a fraction of its capacity due to frequent problems with deep conversion units that are essential for producing gasoline, workers said, leading to a new wave of fuel shortages.

“I had more than 100 cars ahead of me at 6 p.m. when I started queuing. After 12 midnight, the gasoline ran out”, said Ramón Blanco, an administrator who resides in Valencia. He filled up his car the next day at another station. “Hopefully we don’t go back to the terrible days when we would spend up to three days queuing for gasoline.”

The central region of Venezuela It is so far one of the most affected by the lack of fuel, but lines have also begun to form in Falcón state, where PDVSA’s largest refineries are located.

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At many service stations, hundreds of motorcyclists, a common means of transportation in the country, mill around waiting their turn, while other drivers worry about the dollarized prices they have to pay for fuel when it is available.

PDVSA did not respond to a request for comment. On Thursday, the oil company said on Twitter that operations would be extended to several stations in the central region.

persistent interruptions

Amuay, the largest refinery in the OPEC member country and with the capacity to process 645,000 barrels per day (bpd), has had its catalytic cracker out of service since last week, in the third interruption of its operations since July due to failures of energy and unplanned maintenance. The unit has been detained for a total of 23 days so far this year.

Due to the situation in Amuay, part of the so-called Paraguaná refining complex, PDVSA made a major effort to restart the cracking unit at the neighboring Cardón refinery – which had been out of service all year until this week – and the naphtha reformer, which has broken down three times this year, according to three sources.

Due to the situation in Amuay, part of the Paraguaná refining complex, PDVSA it is now trying to restart neighboring Cardón’s cracker, as well as the naphtha reformer, which has broken down three times this year.

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A team from Iran’s state-owned Naftiran Intertrade Co (NICO) has been repairing and trying to revive operations at the country’s smallest refinery, El Palito, on the central coast, with a capacity of 146,000 bpd, since late last year.

Iran has supplied millions of barrels of oil this year to fuel El Palito and other Venezuelan refineries, while PDVSA it has changed the diet of its facilities to keep them running amid a lack of suitable crude to produce gasoline.

Insufficient electricity supply has been a major factor limiting the operations of the Paraguaná refineries in recent years. At least three blackouts and two minor fires have affected the refining center this year, while at El Palito a fire and a power outage have impacted operations in recent months.

In the eastern part of the country, the Puerto La Cruz refinery, with a processing capacity of 187,000 bpd, is operating with two crude distillation units and a hydroprocessing plant in service, workers told Reuters.

“Every effort has been made (…) there is a lot of pressure to start the catalyst and also the reformer to produce gasoline,” said an Amuay worker. “Although there is inventory, we already know how the situation is,” added.

Source: Elcomercio

jack

I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.