Iran Sends Second Shipment of Refinery Chemical Materials to Venezuela

Reuters reported, citing three sources, that Iran has sent a second shipment of catalyst chemical materials by air to help restart Venezuela’s refineries.

Catalysts are chemical substances used in the production of gasoline and octane boosters.

Reuters reported on Friday, February 13, that these chemical materials were sent by air to the Paraguana refinery, which has a daily processing capacity of 955,000 barrels of oil.

Iran had previously also sent chemical materials through airlines to the Cardon refinery, which has a daily processing capacity of 310,000 barrels of oil.

Venezuela’s refineries have become non-operational due to lack of capital and poor management, such that the Cardon refinery can only produce 60,000 barrels of gasoline per day.

Iran is attempting to revive gasoline production in Venezuela’s refineries by sending chemical materials. In April of this year, Iranian specialists were also dispatched to the country to carry out repairs at two Venezuelan refineries.

One of these refineries was Cardon, which in July 2020, one month after this repair, experienced a fire in its catalytic cracking unit. The second refinery was “El Palito,” and the efforts of Iranian specialists to bring it online were unsuccessful.

Reuters reported that a Venezuelan airline aircraft loaded the catalysts on February 10 (this week’s Tuesday) from Tehran and arrived in Venezuela one day later. It is expected that several more flights will be needed to transfer the remaining catalysts.

The news agency also reported that Iran has sent three shipments of gasoline to Venezuela via oil tankers.

Iran has so far sent several shipments of gasoline to Venezuela, the first of which, totaling 1.5 million barrels, arrived in Venezuela in April of this year, and the second shipment, comprising 1.2 million barrels, was seized by the United States.

Iran has also sent ultra-light crude oil shipments to Venezuela twice, as Bloomberg reported in December of this year that 10 Iranian oil tankers carrying petroleum products set sail for Venezuela.

Meanwhile, recently the United States announced the seizure of a 2 million barrel shipment of Iranian oil destined for Venezuela.

The United States sold the seized gasoline shipment, and the U.S. Department of Justice says it will also sell the oil shipment.

The proceeds from these shipments will be deposited into a fund supporting victims of state-sponsored terrorism in the United States.

Source: Radio Farda