<article><p class="lead">Venezuela's domestic LPG supply has fallen to a trickle, with only one remaining fractionation plant operating at just one-fifth of capacity.</p><p>One of four 50,000 b/d trains is operating at state-owned PdV's 200,000 b/d Jose cryogenic complex, producing around 40,000 b/d of liquids, including just 15,000 b/d of propane or about a quarter of nationwide demand of up to 60,000 b/d. </p><p>Most Venezuelans use propane canisters for cooking, so the acute shortage has forced many to use electric hot plates instead, but these are often short-circuited by frequent power outages. Other Venezuelans in rural areas have resorted to firewood.</p><p>The Jose complex has been hit by frequent accidents — most recently a security valve blast — coupled with reduced feedstock from the Santa Barbara extraction plant in Monagas and the San Joaquin plant in Anaco. </p><p>PdV's gas subsidiary PdV Gas also lacks chemicals essential for LPG production such as glycol and amines that were once produced by state-owned Pequiven's idle affiliate Pralca, according to oil industry officials inside and outside PdV. </p><p>PdV's other liquids extraction and fractionation plants in its eastern division around Lake Maracaibo are out of service.</p><p>"Venezuelan families that consumed three or four 10kg LPG canisters every month as recently as 2017 are now able to get maybe one canister a month if they're lucky," an oil ministry official said.</p><p>Venezuela has traditionally been self-sufficient in LPG and used to be a regular exporter to Caribbean islands and the US. The tide started to turn after a deadly olefins blast at PdV's 635,000 b/d Amuay refinery in August 2012. The US exported a peak of 14,000 b/d of LPG to Venezuela in 2013 with 5,000 b/d of exports in 2018, according to data from the US Energy Information Administration.</p><p>US oil sanctions imposed in January 2019 effectively cut off US supply, even though the sanctions do not specifically mention LPG.</p><p>The Jose plant and LPG distribution are now in the hands of Venezuela's military, which already controls scarce motor fuel distribution, including recently arrived <a href="https://www2.argusmedia.com/en/news/2108352-venezuelan-military-keeps-tight-grip-on-iranian-fuel">gasoline from Iran</a>.</p><p>As has long been the pattern with other scarce products and services, President Nicolas Maduro is prioritizing limited LPG supply for Caracas over rest of the country in an attempt to contain social tensions. Pandemic-related lockdown measures have forced more Venezuelans to remain at home, so demand for the fuel has grown just as supply has shrunk.</p></article>
