Venezuela Looks Abroad for Fuel as Domestic Production Wanes
- PDVSA invites trading houses to supply gasoline and diesel
- Imports rise amid refinery woes and as PDVSA produces less oil
Venezuela, home to the largest oil reserves in the world, is seeking to import 13 million barrels of fuel this year as the country’s refineries are now operating at less than half of their capacity.
State-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA is inviting trading houses and refineries to supply as much as 70,869 barrels of oil products daily from July through the end of the year, according to tender documents obtained by Bloomberg. The company is seeking gasoline, gasoline octane-enhancers, diesel, and also intermediary feedstocks such as vacuum gas oil and catalytic naphtha, which refineries use for fuel production. PDVSA is also seeking heavy naphtha, a diluent used mixed with its heavy oil so crude can flow more easily through pipelines and be sold or refined