The Venezuelan government has restored gasoline production in the country, as well as the capacity of its key refineries, despite the siege of the oil industry by the United States. This was stated by an expert on state policy in the field of energy, former MP David Paravisini.
“Last year at this time all gasoline was imported, and a year later all gasoline consumed in the country is produced locally. In 2020, oil refineries were like scrap metal, but today the El Palito oil refinery (Carabobo state) is practically starting up after a large-scale renovation, in fact, it is already a new refinery. Puerto la Cruz (Anzoategui state) is launched, the Paraguana refinery (Falcon Zulia) produces products, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying on April 27.
Earlier, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that in 2020 the country was able to significantly increase the volume of gasoline production – from 1 million barrels per month in January-May to 11 million barrels in June-December. As Paravisini noted, back in 2014, the state-owned PDVSA produced 400,000 barrels of gasoline per day.
The problems with the supply of diesel and gasoline in Venezuela began with the imposition of US sanctions and were exacerbated by a series of sabotage at refineries and infrastructure facilities, for which the government also blames the United States and Colombia. The sanctions, which, among other things, impede the supply of any components for oil and gas production, led to the shutdown of most of the enterprises and forced Venezuela to turn to Iran for help in repairing them. Since 2019, Tehran has regularly supplied gasoline to Venezuela.
According to Paravisini, the United States, which has declared economic war on Caracas, is entangled in internal problems and is looking for reasons abroad, not only with Venezuela, but also with other countries such as Russia and China.
“They are looking for ways to alleviate internal problems, because their demagoguery has exhausted itself,” the expert said.
Relations between Venezuela and the United States remain tense due to the fact that at the beginning of 2019, against the backdrop of protests, opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself head of state, and the United States recognized him as legitimate and imposed unilateral sanctions against the republic and some politicians. A number of states, including Russia, Mexico and China, have supported President Nicolas Maduro.
The most painful of the US sanctions was the freezing of Venezuela’s accounts in Europe and the blocking of assets and interests of the oil and gas company PDVSA in the jurisdiction of the United States, as well as the ban on transactions with them.
Venezuelan Vice President Dalsi Rodriguez said on March 24 that over $ 7 billion are stored in foreign banks, blocked by the American authorities, and the country’s authorities cannot get access to them. According to the White House, another $ 11 billion should be lost in oil supplies.
On March 26, Foreign Minister Jorge Arreasa tweeted that the Venezuelan government is suing the United States before the World Trade Organization (WTO) for imposing unilateral coercive measures that violate international trade rules.