Cash Strapped Venezuela To Import Gasoline As Crisis Escalates

In its last report from May 11th 2017, OPEC reflected a steep fall in Venezuelan crude production. The cartel mentioned a decline of around 0.45 million barrels a day since 2015, putting the Venezuela production at 2.194 million barrels a day. Over the last 17 years, Venezuela’s oil production has decreased 1.135 million barrels per day representing a 34 percent reduction. Venezuela is suffering gasoline shortages despite having the world's largest oil reserves; Venezuelan refineries are operating significantly below capacity because they are facing operational problems due to a lack of investments and maintenance. Falling output at refineries means that Venezuela needs to import more gasoline, squeezing the national budget even further. Refineries are currently working at less than 30 percent of average 2016 levels. State-run oil company PDVSA is importing between 100 and 150 thousand barrels per day of gasoline. Several tankers are waiting off the coast of Venezuela to discharge cargoes as the PDVSA has difficulties to pay their ship bills, resulting in a penalty of $26 000 per tanker per day. More…