Fifth fuel cargo from Iran due in Venezuela by 1 June

Venezuela received a fourth products tanker from Iran overnight, with a fifth scheduled to moor by 1 June.

The Iranian-flagged Faxon is currently unloading close to 270,000 bl of gasoline at state-owned PdV's Guaraguao terminal in Puerto La Cruz for distribution in eastern Venezuela.

Over the past week, the Fortune and the Petunia delivered a total of around 635,000 bl of Iranian gasoline at the 140,000 b/d El Palito terminal in Carabobo state.

The Forest brought in some 270,000 bl of alkylate at the 305,000 b/d Cardon refinery, where PdV repair crews are trying to restart a 25,000 b/d alkylation unit and an 86,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracker before mid-July, the oil ministry said.

The fifth tanker, the Clavel carrying around 360,000 bl believed to be more gasoline, may unload its cargo at the Bajo Grande terminal on Lake Maracaibo for distribution in western Venezuela, a senior oil union official said.

A government commission chaired by President Nicolas Maduro still has not issued the prices at which the Iranian gasoline will be sold. On 26 May he said the imported fuel was purchased in dollars and those costs must be recovered.

The imports are providing Venezuela with a brief reprieve from a severe fuel shortage, but the supply is unlikely to last more than a few weeks even with strict rationing and prices running around $2-$3 per liter.