Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA suspended gasoline production at the El Palito refinery after a problem with a valve led to a fire, unnamed sources familiar with the incident told Reuters. The El Palito refinery has a processing capacity of 146 barrels daily and had only been in operation for less than a week before the fire occurred. After the suspension of operations at El Palito now, Venezuela is left with only the Cardon refinery to produce much-needed gasoline. The Cardon facility has a processing capacity of 300,000 bpd of crude, but gasoline output was 30,000 bpd as of yesterday, according to Reuters. The gasoline shortage in Venezuela is the result of lower production of crude and years of mismanagement at refineries, as well as U.S. sanctions, which have cut off gasoline imports from the country. Despite a shipment of Iranian crude earlier this year, the shortage has become […]