Venezuelans have the oil, but they don’t have the needful productive capital, so they don’t have gasoline for their cars or propane for their kitchens. Venezuelans do not have cooking fuel, but, then, they also do not have food to cook: Food moves around on trucks, and no gasoline or diesel means no food deliveries. Tractors and irrigation systems need petroleum, too — try running a farm without diesel and propane. The United States does not feed its 330 million people (and much of the rest of the world) by plowing with donkeys. By Kevin Williamson. Full Text -> National Review

Like many, Dublas left his minimum wage job to become a mototaxi driver back in 2014, when hyperinflation began to soar, ravaging Venezuela’s economy. His motorcycle was relatively affordable, and the job allows drivers to make their own hours and earnings. But the combination of the lockdown and gas shortages has the likes of Dublas fighting for survival. Many told VICE News that gas scarcity was being exploited by local mafias and corrupt government officials. By Lexi Parra. Full Text-> VICE

Venezuela is currently producing gasoline from one unit at the Amuay refinery and another unit at the Cardon refinery. Amuay and Cardon are currently processing up to 135,000 barrels per day, “but that level of production has to be sustained and other units needed for gasoline production, including the fluid catalytic cracker, must be restarted,” a manager at PDVSA told Argus. By Tsvetana Paraskova. Full Text-> Oil Price

Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA has resumed gasoline production at the only operating refinery in the country home to the world’s largest oil reserves that is experiencing severe gasoline shortages, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. By Tsvetana Paraskova. Full Text-> OilPrice

Venezuela’s long gas station lines are coming back after a short reprieve from shipments of Iranian fuel in May as the country struggles to repair its ailing refineries. Lines at the pump had disappeared following the arrival of five Iranian tankers in May, carrying a total of 1.5 million barrels of fuel. Relief is unlikely to return without more fuel imports from abroad. By Fabiola Zerpa. Full Text -> Yahoo!Finance

Venezuela is now on the verge of famine, the International Crisis Group warns. More than half of the land used to grow vegetables last year won’t be replanted, according to farming federation Fedeagro. Corn production is expected to cover less than a quarter of national demand. And the tightening vice of U.S. sanctions threatens to strangle what little food and oil is getting in from abroad. By Fabiola Zerpa, James Attwood and Nicolle Yapur. Full Text-> Bloomberg News

The South American nation this week launched a new fuel distribution system, ending decades of essentially unlimited heavy subsidies amid an acute fuel shortage. By Deisy Buitrago and Luc Cohen. Full Text-> Reuters

Mechanics and in some cases drivers themselves revamp vehicle fuel systems with a propane cylinder of the sort used for kitchen stoves, to avoid service station lines that sometimes leave people waiting for days to buy gasoline. “There’s no fuel in Venezuela and I had to set my car up like this to be able to work and bring home my daily bread,” said Senen Aguirre, 25, in the city of Maracaibo. Full Text-> HTAuto

A dollar could once theoretically buy about 5 billion gallons of gasoline in Venezuela — more than enough to supply the state of Michigan for a year. Now, a dollar gets you half a pint, if you’re lucky. By Anatoly Kurmanaev. Full Text-> NYT

Fuel shortage and lockdowns are reigniting the regime’s controlling instincts—and overwhelming the people’s capacity for survival By Isabella Laroca. Full Text-> Caracas Chronicle