Gasoline shortages in Venezuela are worsening after U.S. officials have told foreign firms to refrain from supplying the fuel to the sanctioned South American nation and only provide diesel, according to five people familiar with the situation.
) - continued to supply fuels to PDVSA under swap arrangements for Venezuelan crude oil, which was allowed by the U.S. Treasury.
A senior Trump administration official said that Maduro alone was responsible for the humanitarian toll in Venezuela and the United States would continue its campaign to cut his lifelines. “The swaps were working quite well,” said Francisco Monaldi, an energy economist at Rice University, adding that the recent escalation in sanctions would spook suppliers. “In these circumstances, it is unlikely that established companies will take the risk.”
In statements, both Repsol and Eni said they send PDVSA diesel, not gasoline, as part of their swaps. In March, Eni delivered two diesel cargoes, while Repsol sent one and Rosneft did not send any, according to internal PDVSA documents seen by Reuters and Refinitiv Eikon data. The vast majority of that went to produce diesel and jet fuel. The refineries produced just 7,000 bpd of 91-octane gasoline in March and 28,000 bpd in the first three months of the year. The 310,000-bpd Cardon and the 187,000 bpd Puerto la Cruz refineries remained completely halted.
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