PdV refinery suspends gasoline production

Venezuelan state-owned PdV suspended gasoline production at its 305,000 b/d Cardon refinery this week as a result of more equipment breakdowns.

Cardon was producing about 45,000 b/d of gasoline before a compressor failure shut down the plant's 54,000 b/d naphtha reformer. The failure of steam supply units also derailed the 86,000 b/d fluid catalytic cracker, according to multiple sources at the refinery.

The breakdowns are the latest in an on-again off-again pattern in PdV's main refineries.

Cardon "stopped all gasoline production early on 10 March," a senior refinery manager said. "We expect to restart the naphtha reformer and FCC by the end of next week if repairs are completed as scheduled."

Cardon operators also shut down one of two operational distillation units at the refinery for what a senior labor union official described as "minor repairs."

PdV's decision to shut down the CD-2 unit at Cardon has aggravated a domestic diesel shortage that has developed in recent weeks, on top of a chronic gasoline deficit.

Venezuela uses diesel for some power generation, heavy transport and agricultural activity.

Cardon and the nearby 635,000 b/d Amuay refinery comprise the 940,000 b/d CRP refining complex. Only one of Amuay's five distillation units is currently operational.

The complex located on the Paraguana peninsula is producing around 30,000 b/d of diesel, about a third of official demand.

PdV's limited high-sulpur diesel production had been topped off by low-sulfur imports until the US government ended crude-for-diesel swaps by non-US companies at the end of 2020, part of the failed "maximum pressure" sanctions strategy of the previous administration in Washington. The current administration of President Joe Biden is reviewing the sanctions but has signaled that it is in no hurry to lift them.