Sources report that Iran may send additional volumes of gasoline to Venezuela in order to reduce its domestic supply glut. In 2019, Iran became self-sufficient with its gasoline supply following the completion of the third phase of state-owned National Iranian Oil Co.'s 360K-b/d Persian Gulf Star Refinery. However, even before the coronavirus pandemic caused domestic gasoline demand to fall 30.8 on the year to 450K b/d in 1Q, Iran was already dealing with a gasoline oversupply that reached 172K b/d in the first three months of 2020. Iran has already sent 1.5MM bbl of gasoline and other forms of aid to Venezuela in violation of US sanctions, but the US has yet to respond. The Middle Eastern country, which is also providing aid to help Venezuela restart its 1.3MM b/d refining network, also has an Iranian-flagged vessel headed to Venezuela as of June 15.
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