CARACAS – The supply of gasoline in Venezuela, the country with the world’s largest oil reserves, has suffered continuous shortages for several months in Caracas and throughout the interior, national media and individuals consulted by EFE said on Friday.

The daily El Nacional said on Friday that the lines of cars at service stations in Caracas “diminished slightly yesterday due to the arrival of tanker trucks from PDVSA (the state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela) starting early that morning.”

However, the newspaper said those gas stations were selling only 91-octane gasoline, which has annoyed motorists whose vehicles require fuel with other octane ratings.

EFE noted that between Thursday and Friday this week, in at least three service stations on the Venezuelan capital’s east side, dozens of people were lined up to fill their gas tanks.

Residents in the states of Trujillo, Zulia and Lara in the west and Bolivar in the south told EFE on Friday that over the last few weeks they have had to resort to a few specific places to obtain gasoline, since many service stations are closed while others open just once a week.

Early this month, the Venezuelan opposition warned about the shortage of gasoline in the eastern part of the country, and called on the respective authorities to do something about “this serious situation.”

Last March, there was a breakdown in the gasoline supply in four central Venezuelan states.

At that time, PDVSA said the shortages were caused by the “delay in gasoline shipping along the coast.”

Up to now the government has made no comments about the current situation.
Bron: LatinAmericanHeraldTribune