Vast gasoline lines form in oil-rich Venezuela
Maracaibo, Venezuela (AP) — U.S. sanctions on oil-rich Venezuela appear to be taking hold, resulting in mile-long lines for fuel in the South American nation’s second-largest city, Maracaibo.
Some drivers said they’d had to wait almost 24 hours to fuel up, and people have been grabbing catnaps on the hoods of cars or in truck beds.
Nearing empty and stuck in line, infectious diseases doctor Yoli Urdaneta said she couldn’t make her shift to treat patients.
“I’ve spent four days trying to get gasoline,” Urdaneta said. “But I couldn’t.”
A satellite cruising over Maracaibo on Thursday captured pictures of cars lined up for a mile through the city to the pumps, according to by Maxar Technologies, a U.S.-based space technology company.
Russ Dallen, a Miami-based partner at the brokerage firm Caracas Capital Markets, said Sunday that stiff U.S. sanctions on top of decaying refineries has begun to hit home.
Venezuela doesn’t have the cash to import key ingredients to keep up production in a country with the world’s largest oil reserves, said Dallen, who estimated that the state run oil-firm PDVSA is producing 10 percent to 15 percent of its capacity.
“It’s all coming together in a toxic brew,” Dallen said. “That is really having a devastating effect.”
The Trump administration this year sanctioned PDVSA in an effort aimed at driving President Nicolás Maduro from office, while throwing its support behind opposition leader Juan Guaidó.