Ante una paralizante escasez de gasolina, el presidente de Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, está recurriendo a la cuarentena por COVID-19 para mantener a todos en casa. Petroleros iraníes están en camino mientras considera soluciones a más largo plazo que incluyen un mercado privado para las importaciones y ventas de combustible y un aumento de precios en las estaciones de servicio para acabar con el mercado negro.
Según su plan, la petrolera estatal PDVSA permitiría que las empresas privadas importen y distribuyan combustible, evitando teóricamente las sanciones de Estados Unidos dirigidas a entidades estatales, según personas familiarizadas con el asunto. Esto iría acompañado de un aumento de precios, dijeron.
Entretanto, como solución a corto plazo, se espera que tanqueros iraníes con millones de barriles de gasolina lleguen a Venezuela este fin de semana. El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores iraní ha dicho que cualquier intento de Estados Unidos por detenerlos se encontrará con “una respuesta rápida y decisiva”. La oposición venezolana, liderada por Juan Guaidó, ha advertido que no se debería permitir a los barcos atracar.
En las refinerías Cardón y Amuay de PDVSA, los técnicos iraníes están reparando plantas paralizadas. En abril, más de una docena de vuelos desde Teherán trasladaron a los trabajadores, junto con suministros y piezas, al complejo de refinación de Paraguaná y se fueron con 9 toneladas de oro, alrededor de US$500 millones, como pago.
Cambio cultural
Una revisión del sistema de distribución de gasolina del país significaría el fin de los controles de precios que han permitido que los venezolanos llenen sus tanques prácticamente de forma gratuita. También representaría un cambio radical en la cultura venezolana, flexibilizando el monopolio del Estado sobre el principal activo del país. PDVSA recuperaría millones actualmente perdidos en subsidios.
Pero es una medida cargada de riesgos políticos. Los venezolanos han llegado a considerar que la gasolina barata es un derecho de nacimiento: cuando los precios aumentaron en 1989, estallaron violentos disturbios en Caracas.
Under its plan, state oil company PDVSA would allow private companies to import and distribute fuel, theoretically avoiding U.S. sanctions targeting state entities, according to people familiar with the matter. This would be accompanied by a price increase, they said.
Meanwhile, as a short-term solution, Iranian tankers with millions of barrels of gasoline are expected to arrive in Venezuela this weekend. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has said that any attempt by the United States to stop them will meet with "a swift and decisive response." The Venezuelan opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, has warned that ships should not be allowed to dock.
At PDVSA's Cardón and Amuay refineries, Iranian technicians are repairing paralyzed plants. In April, more than a dozen flights from Tehran took the workers, along with supplies and parts, to the Paraguaná refining complex and left with 9 tons of gold, about $ 500 million, as payment.
Cultural change
A revision of the country's gasoline distribution system would mean the end of price controls that have allowed Venezuelans to fill their tanks practically free of charge. It would also represent a radical change in Venezuelan culture, making the state's monopoly on the country's main asset more flexible. PDVSA would recover millions currently lost in subsidies.
But it is a measure fraught with political risks. Venezuelans have come to view cheap gasoline as a birthright: when prices rose in 1989, violent riots broke out in Caracas.
In the face of a crippling gasoline shortage, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, is resorting to COVID-19 quarantine to keep everyone at home. Iranian oil tankers are on the way as it considers longer-term solutions that include a private market for fuel imports and sales and a price increase at service stations to end the black market.
Under its plan, state oil company PDVSA would allow private companies to import and distribute fuel, theoretically avoiding U.S. sanctions targeting state entities, according to people familiar with the matter. This would be accompanied by a price increase, they said.
Meanwhile, as a short-term solution, Iranian tankers with millions of barrels of gasoline are expected to arrive in Venezuela this weekend. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has said that any attempt by the United States to stop them will meet with "a swift and decisive response." The Venezuelan opposition, led by Juan Guaidó, has warned that ships should not be allowed to dock.
At PDVSA's Cardón and Amuay refineries, Iranian technicians are repairing paralyzed plants. In April, more than a dozen flights from Tehran took the workers, along with supplies and parts, to the Paraguaná refining complex and left with 9 tons of gold, about $ 500 million, as payment.
Cultural change
A revision of the country's gasoline distribution system would mean the end of price controls that have allowed Venezuelans to fill their tanks practically free of charge. It would also represent a radical change in Venezuelan culture, making the state's monopoly on the country's main asset more flexible. PDVSA would recover millions currently lost in subsidies.
But it is a measure fraught with political risks. Venezuelans have come to view cheap gasoline as a birthright: when prices rose in 1989, violent riots broke out in Caracas.
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