Venezuela running out of motor fuel

Fuel stocks are drying up across Venezuela because of the collapse of state-owned PdV´s refineries and distribution network, and sanctions-related restrictions on imports.

An internal PdV report dated 13 May indicates that gasoline and diesel inventories in eight border states were completely exhausted, and the rest of the country had the equivalent of only two or three days of reserves.

Venezuela has been short of fuel for years as its refineries faltered. But the deficit is now worsening, according to a broad swathe of PdV and oil ministry officials and service station operators. Imports, including gasoline cargoes from Spain´s Repsol in recent months, appear to have stalled. US sanctions imposed in late January cut off US products supply to Venezuela. But some Venezuelan oil continues to reach Cuba, the government's closest political ally, in spite of US efforts to stop it.

The acute fuel shortages have grounded much transport and left motorists waiting for hours to replenish their tanks at stations that still have fuel to sell.

PdV maintains officially that sporadic shortages are caused by minor distribution setbacks such as damaged tanker trucks that are quickly corrected.

States reporting critical fuel shortages this week include Amazonas, Apure, Anzoátegui, Aragua, Bolivar, Carabobo, Delta Amacuro, Falcón, Lara, Mérida, Monagas, Portuguesa, Táchira, Trujillo and Zulia.

"Hundreds" of service stations have closed down because they have run out of fuel or cannot operate safely because of unstable electricity supply, the PdV report notes.

Service station operators in Anzoátegui, Aragua, Carabobo, Lara, Táchira and Zulia report lines of over 700 vehicles at individual outlets.

Motorists in western Venezuela are queuing for over 24 hours to tank up their vehicles. The border region is most impacted because what little fuel is available is often smuggled across the border into Colombia, where it is resold at near-market prices. In Venezuela, gasoline and diesel are sold for practically nothing, but with the scarcity some criminal groups are now extorting desperate motorists for US dollars.

The shortage is less visible in Caracas as the government routinely prioritizes the capital in allocating scarce resources.

Oil ministry and PdV officials declined to comment on the record, saying only that the government is sparing no effort to overcome operational problems and supply disruptions they blame on US sanctions.

Venezuela´s domestic market is consuming at most 200,000 b/d of motor fuel, compared with a historical level of around 600,000 b/d.

Oil union leader Ivan Freites, a supporter of National Assembly president Juan Guaidó who is recognized as Venezuela's legitimate interim president by more than 50 western governments, including the US, says a lack of electricity and broken refineries are the chief causes of fuel crisis.

US sanctions have aggravated the deficit. PdV is struggling to source new non-US gasoline and diesel supplies, charter products tankers and finance imports now that most banks are declining to extend credit to the company, Freites added.

The fuel crisis is one facet of the Venezuelan oil industry´s debacle. Crude production has plummeted to 500,000 b/d in recent days, less than a sixth of its 1990s level.

The US is hoping comprehensive sanctions will bring down Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro. But so far Maduro has resisted pressure from the US-backed opposition, and has cracked down on dissidents in the wake of a botched military uprising on 30 April.