Gas shortage in Venezuela?: what is known after the explosion of the PDVSA plant in Monagas

It’s been more than a week since explosion at PDVSA’s Muscar Gas Complex, in Monagas state. While the national government blames the opposition for an alleged terrorist attack at the plant, Venezuelans are concerned about the possible effects that the lack of operation may have on the large complex, which generates more than 80% of the gas used in the country’s internal consumption. As the days go by, Some states are already showing signs of shortage of domestic and vehicle gas, while the electricity crisis wreaks havoc in entities such as Nueva Esparta, Sucre and Anzoátegui.

The explosion occurred last Monday, November 11, after 10:00 am. According to official information, at least five workers were injured and populations near the complex were evacuated.

The executive vice president and Minister of Petroleum of the government of Nicolás Maduro, Delcy Rodríguez, attributed the accident to a terrorist attack in which the American Erik Prince and the opposition leader María Corina Machado were involvedhowever, did not provide details on the extent of the damage or estimated repair time.

What is the extent of the damage after the explosion at the PDVSA complex in Monagas?

A report from the state company PDVSA to which the SyP Global firm revealed that the incident that occurred at the Monagas plant will cause delays in the production of light oil, heavy oil and natural gas until at least February 2025.

“This accident has been described as ‘catastrophic’, because it destroyed PDVSA’s strategic oil and gas production infrastructure,” a state company official told this specialized firm, who for security reasons kept his name anonymous.

This same source indicated that at first glance there is considerable damage to the gas collector, although hidden damage has not been ruled out. “Very close to the collector is the Muscar compressor plant, which probably suffered some damage due to the fire and the expansion of the explosion,” he added.

The PDVSA official added that “a lot of work needs to be done to reconstruct new gas pipelines. An important network of gas pipelines was damaged, there is damage to the electronics, to the instrumentation that accompanies that operation, there may be hidden damage, everything around that facility that exploded must be checked.”

As a consequence of this lack of gas, according to the preliminary report, The gas power plants in the states of Anzoátegui, Sucre and Nueva Esparta are out of service.; the Jose Petrochemical Complex; the Metor I, Metor II and Fertinitro petrochemical plants; the liquid fractionation and extraction plants associated with the Muscar complex, such as San Joaquín and Santa Bárbara. The gas supply to basic companies in Guyana is also paralyzed.

This is the reason why The state of Nueva Esparta is experiencing an electrical crisis from November 12 with blackouts lasting up to 20 hourswhile in Monagas they have been rationing electricity since last Friday, November 15 in blocks ranging from 3 to 5 hours.

«The big problem is that the manifold was destroyed and the Muscar – Anaco gas transmission trunk tube was affected. Without this infrastructure there is no way to send gas to the national distribution hub,” warned Venezuelan economist Federico Alves in a publication on social networks.

He stressed that the situation is very complicated because there is no possibility of replacing the volume of gas provided by the affected tube.

Alves explained that the old replacement source was the Anaco free gas fields, which at one time had production of 1,800 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, enough to satisfy national demand, but currently produce barely 300 MMft³ per day.

«Repairing the failed tube, working in an emergency, takes time. It is major infrastructure, thick pipes and everything that implies in terms of control (valves, instrumentation, etc.). Another point, whose real status is unknown, is the compression required to transport the gas. There we are dealing with high pressure equipment and very high volumes. These are not equipment that can be bought on the street corner. So when looking at the panorama, the situation is very complicated,” he indicated.

The economist said that The situation directly affects the production of liquefied petroleum gassince the Sta Bárbara and San Joaquín plants are impacted in their operation by not receiving enough rich gas.

«Without this contribution, there is no liquid extraction and consequently, José’s fractionator does not receive enough natural gas liquids that are the raw material to produce LPG (propane, butane, Isobutane). This seriously affects the volume of LPG available for the market and, consequently, the number of gas cylinders that citizens can receive for cooking.«, he concluded.

.@PDVSA S.O.S.
“I know the affected plant well. The situation is very serious. Beyond the inaccuracies and the tremendous speculations of the person writing the note… The big problem is that the manifold was destroyed and the Muscar gas transmission trunk tube was affected – Anaco.… pic.twitter.com/EiuvgFcMX8

— Federico Alves, Econ. (@federicoalves) November 20, 2024

They report a shortage of vehicle gas in Lara

The Higher Transport Body of the Lara state confirmed on Tuesday, November 19 that The entity faces a contingency due to the shortage of Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV)fuel on which 80% of public transportation depends.

Coordinator David Sun reported, in statements to The Pitazothat of the nine service stations intended for CNG in the entity, only La Pastora and La Sindical were operating at that time, located between the center and the west of Barquisimeto.

He explained that each pump can serve up to 200 vehicles a day, while the public transport fleet in Lara covers approximately 3,800 units.

According to data from the National Union of Transport Workers in Venezuela (Sintratransve), 80% of these vehicles have migrated to CNG due to the high costs of diesel and gasolinewhich aggravates mobility difficulties for citizens.

The official said he did not know the reason for the shortage, but the information he has been told so far is that there is not enough pressure.

Although the gas that supplies Lara comes from Puerto Cabello and, in theory, should not be affected by the event that occurred in Monagas, engineer Orlando Díaz, who participated in remodeling CNG stations in the east of the country, suggests that Pdvsa could have reduced the pressure in the national supply line as a preventive measure.

Gas shortage causes serious electricity crisis in Nueva Esparta and other states

The National Electric Corporation (Corpoelec) has been applying prolonged electrical rationing in several states of Venezuela due to the shortage of gas to produce thermal energy.

Engineer José Aguilar, specialist in electrical generation systems, explained to The Pitazo that since there is not enough fuel for thermoelectric plants, the country depends even more on the energy produced at the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Power Plant, known as Guri, which is insufficient due to the limitations of the transmission network.

“If they don’t have enough gas, they can try to make up for that deficit with more hydroelectricity. However, given the poor state of the network and despite having sufficient hydroelectricity, the system cannot be balanced and lends itself to a more unstable situation,” he explained.

In addition to Nueva Esparta, where blackouts last up to 20 hours, in Zulia power outages of up to four hours a day are already reported, in Táchira between five to 10 hours per day, and in Lara four to six hours.

As for the island region, it is the most affected because it is largely fed by the Juan Bautista Arismendi thermoelectric plant, where the gas shortage is greatest.

The expert pointed out that Margarita Island has a single sublacustrine cable, which allows the import of no more than 150 megawatts of energy—60% of the state’s demand—produced in Guri.