PdV defends gasoline quality amid output pressure

Venezuelan firefighters in the country's historic oil-producing center of Maracaibo have new advice for drivers filling their tanks — disconnect the battery and keep a fire extinguisher handy.

Drivers have complained of cars catching fire and exploding during fill-ups recently, which they have blamed on poor-quality gasoline from state-owned PdV's refineries that struggle to produce enough to meet demand.

But PdV is using a social media post to deliver its own advice to drivers: smell the gasoline.

The short video posted yesterday shows a uniformed PdV worker arriving at a crowed gas station, passing around a five-liter clear plastic bottle full of a yellowish liquid, urging the crowd to "Smell it!" Myriad noses and fingertips test the liquid, even a uniformed policeman obliges. "Ah, yes," one man says. "You can tell the difference."

But complaints about PdV gasoline quality have predated the video campaign for years. The largest business chamber in Venezuela, Fedecamaras, said gasoline quality has worsened recently and is seriously affecting the country's motor vehicles.

Venezuela's refineries have deteriorated after years of under-investment. In March, PdV produced 120,000 b/d of gasoline, according to PdV figures compiled and validated by a Caracas consultancy and seen by Argus. That is less than half the 300,000 b/d it was producing in 2012, according to PdV reports.

Output increased slightly in March from 90,000 b/d in February, and is over the 2022 average of 90,000 b/d. Russia has urged Venezuela to help supply more crude and fuels to its ally Cuba, in the face of energy shortages there.

But the El Palito refinery has not produced any gasoline since August 2022, shortly after key crude processing facilities there were allegedly damaged by a batch of Iranian crude that fell outside of specifications.

The fuel quality decline began in earnest in 2012, after an explosion at the CRP refining complex that left some units permanently damaged. Venezuela began importing key gasoline-making components from Brazil and other countries, eventually stopping production of gasoline altogether during the Covid-19 pandemic. It imported some gasoline from Iran.

By Carlos Camacho