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Times of uncertainty: Venezuela faces gasoline shortage while in quarantine

A long queue for gasolene

The long queues for gasoline in Venezuela are suffocating and humiliating. There, vans have mattresses in the back to sleep on at night, people bring beach chairs to sit in the street, pets lie down at the feet of their owners, some people play dominoes and others use their car door to cover themselves while urinating in the street.

The ‘new normal’ in Venezuela is the shortage of gasoline. A few months ago, the lines for filling up seemed alarming. Now it’s at least a three-day wait, but at certain gas stations the stay can be longer than ten days. Meanwhile, people sleep in their cars, solely out of necessity, because they need the fuel for their jobs and personal matters.

The coronavirus arrived in Venezuela at a time of paralysis due to gasoline problems. The quarantine is only enforced by those able to do so, who have income from virtual jobs or savings. The ones who have closed businesses try to survive by making home deliveries, but with an empty gas tank they can’t distribute.

“Since quarantine began, I ride my bike, I can walk, I go to my parents’ house almost every day, and I go to the supermarket… but my husband doesn’t, he has knee surgery and he can’t walk that much… besides, we work, we have a small business,” says Rosiris Núñez, a customer at the gas station.

So, if a customer calls, they must provide home service and for that, they need the car. They can’t miss the opportunity of a sale right now. The company of Rosiris has collapsed due to the economic situation of the country. In recent years, after having a staff of more than thirty people, there are only four employees left, including her and her husband.

Import, export and the measures that have changed the scene

In the past, many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean were supplied with gasoline from Venezuela, but now it cannot even be distributed internally. This situation has caused the country to depend on imports, which in addition to the subsidy make Venezuela lose approximately 5.5 billion dollars a year, according to Ecoanalítica’s figures.

This shortage is the worst in the last 17 years, when the oil industry came to a standstill in protest against measures taken by Hugo Chávez. At the time, there was no gasoline available in many of the stations and the queues to refuel were quite long, but the situation was joined by a general strike in different sectors such as commercial, educational, services and industry, so daily mobilization was reduced.

That year, Chavez dismissed 19,000 oil workers, replacing the experts, in many cases, with less-qualified personnel, which largely caused the current deterioration, along with non-investment, reduced maintenance and imperceptible compliance with protocols.

Added to the production problems are agreements with countries such as Cuba, which mean that Venezuela sends considerable amounts of fuel to the island, despite the local population going through this crisis.

The sanctions by the United States of America also caused the country to experience difficulties with gasoline because of its dependence on imported fuel. Attempts have been made to supply imports from Russia, Iran and India, but the problems in the oil industry began much earlier, intensified over time by various factors.

Current sanctions additionally prevent Venezuela from receiving services from many countries, causing further problems. For this reason, Venezuela initiated an agreement with Iran for the shipment of 5 oil tankers loaded with fuel, which were paid for with gold and have increased the tension between Washington and Tehran. According to oil industry union workers in Venezuela, Iran would also be helping to reactivate the refineries, but the damage is extensive and there is not expected to be an immediate response.

Gasoline prices in Venezuela had not increased in a long time. Fuel was so cheap that drivers used to tip the pump workers more than they paid for the tank. When service was more regular a few months ago, serious problems were already evident at the border with fuel smuggling.

“At the borders, people suffer more… San Cristóbal, Barinas… the gasoline here is too cheap… there is a lot of smuggling, all over the border there is contraband”. Richard Nogueira comments.

Venezuela, the historically oil country with a worrying shortage of gasoline

The cheapest gasoline in the world became one of the most expensive in March, April and May. Throughout those months, users who didn’t want to wait in line for days could get it for an extra price: a liter could cost between $2 and $3 on the black market.

The oil country with the largest oil reserves is going through one of the worst fuel-shortage crises. In recent months, the lack of gasoline gradually spread to different cities in the country until it reached a critical point, where sales rations in some regions were not sufficient. Since November, there have been long queues at stations, some cities fleetingly went back to normal for a few days, but supplies then worsened.

Refineries being shutdown or semi-operational means that the number of barrels of gasoline needed daily by the population of more than 30 million people is not being met. In recent months, the figure was already below demand due to faults in Venezuela’s refining centers, but now the country is dependent on imports.

The last weekend of May, the administration of Nicolás Maduro announced an increase in the price of gasoline. A few days earlier, gasoline ships arrived in the country from Iran. The news, also influenced the coronavirus quarantine with a relaxation for some sectors from June. The quarantine was in effect since mid-March when the gasoline problem intensified.

Gasoline was practically free in Venezuela. The population saw it as one of the few economic privileges of living in the oil-producing country. The new announcement is divided into two parts: a subsidized gasoline at 5,000 bolivars ($0.02 per liter), with daily rationing according to the vehicle’s license plate and a limit of 120 liters per month. To access the benefit, users must be registered in the “sistema de la patria”, a website where people must add all their data.

The other fuel purchase plan places prices in more international ranges. The cost of the announced “premium product” is $0.50 per liter and will be distributed in 200 gas stations in the country, with no purchase limit. Specialists observe different problems such as: the import capacity when the country is sanctioned, the possible increase in the cost of living and the inability of a part of the population to access these prices, taking into account that the minimum wage in the country is less than 5 dollars a month.

The loss of peace

The service failures that increased in December 2019 caused many customers to save as much fuel as possible. “I fill up very little… I save gas… there are many people who use up their tank quickly, but I take care of my gas, because I don’t like to stand in line”, says Cono Lagona, a consumer.

The years 2019 and 2020 have been marked by scarcity. During the Christmas vacation and other holidays, a lot of people didn’t have a rest, they woke up at dawn to guarantee that they would return home with a full tank of gas. “We waited about 3 hours in line and the electricity went out… that was the first of January… I try go out early as possible to return home sooner”, comments Richard Nogueira.

The country once considered an oil paradise has reduced crude oil production to historic lows and gasoline supplies are dwindling by the day. The fuel shortage could paralyze different sectors of the country, due to the dependence of transport on gasoline, for example, in the agricultural sector a rise in prices could be the result of higher fuel prices.

“They can’t transport… a lot of vegetables come from the Andes, they bring us quite a few things here… if those people don’t get gasoline, how are they going to send those products?” asks Jorge Hallak. The problem come at a critical period, and it is in addition to a humanitarian crisis, hyperinflation, and product shortages.

People organize the queues to avoid problems and fights; they deal with the organization through lists that they must clean up every day. Rosiris Núñez had been in the line for seven days when we spoke and still had a few kilometers to fill up.

It could be that she would probably arrive at the service station in two days but, in these circumstances, it is difficult to calculate the waiting time, there are many factors that must be taken into account, such as the amount of fuel and electricity.  “The power went out for four hours yesterday and they weren’t going to stay until midnight filling up”, so the hope of leaving earlier is lost and the waiting hours accumulate.

The impossibility of quarantine in a country with a gasoline shortage

Since the beginning of the quarantine, there were warnings about the priority of gasoline for the health and public sector that is currently active. The priority population may still spend between twelve and thirty hours waiting to fill their tank, regardless of whether they are doctors or nurses on duty.

“In another country you don’t see these things, only in Venezuela… they are in the same situation as us (with the COVID-19), but they have all their services, they have electricity and water, a country that has such a delicate pandemic and there is no water… this is terrible,” points out Rosiris who, because her mother has a kidney condition, was able to get in line with the health sector a few weeks ago, the safe-conduct allowed her to be supplied in 30 hours.

Other people with health problems also have concerns and are suffering because of the gasoline issue. Rosiris Núñez comments that, in previous days, one of the main organizers of the queue was an oncological patient who is also a doctor, and like her, many need the fuel for emergencies. For that reason, they must tolerate the degradation. “This is a humiliation for me… especially for women, because where do we do our physiological needs? And for 20-25 liters? this is humiliating,” says Rosiris.

This is not the first queue for those who have been waiting for eight days already, some are faster, but they take place in more remote places where it is difficult to benefit from the shadow of the trees. In recent weeks, consumers have taken the streets to protest the failure of the service, including kidney patients, who have reported deaths and deteriorating health of some sick people, unable to go on dialysis because of a shortage of gasoline.

In the queues, many people wear masks, others don’t. Some keep their distance, others don’t. It is difficult to remain calm and remember the recommendations to avoid further coronavirus infections when there are other needs and when people exceed their tolerance limit.

It is uncertain what will happen in the coming weeks; it is not known if sales will normalize, if the black market will continue or if the shortages will worsen. The reality for Venezuelans is constantly changing and after years of protests, elections, political prisoners and deaths it seems that adaptation is one of the few answers that the exhausted population can afford.

Image credit: Toni Rivera