Caracas Chronicles

On November 11th 2024, an explosion rocked the Muscar Operational Complex in Punta de Mata, Monagas state—a critical node in the national gas system. In keeping with the chavista tradition of downplaying maintenance and management issues at PDVSA, the regime quickly attempted to shift the blame, pointing fingers at María Corina Machado and Erick Prince. According to Vice President and Minister of Petroleum Delcy Rodríguez, 11 people were arrested following the incident.

Caracas Chronicles consulted with Venezuelan experts and other sources to understand Muscar’s crucial role in gas supply, its operation, and the short and medium-term repercussions of the explosion.

What is Muscar and what is its role under normal circumstances?

The Muscar Complex is the main hub for receiving and distributing gas associated with oil extraction in northern Monagas, supplying over two-thirds of the gas consumed in Venezuela. First, Muscar collects gas from nearby wells—Carito, Pirital, Santa Bárbara Field, among others—and sends part of it to liquid extraction plants like San Joaquín and Santa Bárbara. There, the gas is separated into dry natural gas and gas liquids.

“In Monagas, PDVSA extracts light crude oil that generates a significant amount of associated gas,” one expert explained. “Muscar, which is the heart of the national system, processes the gas from this production and sends the dry gas to the rest of the country via Anaco.”

The dry gas is transported to the Anaco Main Station, considered the “brain” of Venezuela’s gas system, as it connects Monagas gas to the rest of the national network. Anaco acts as a hub, distributing gas to the domestic market: the José Antonio Anzoátegui Petrochemical Complex (Jose), Margarita, Sucre state, the Central and Western regions, and the Guayana region, including the CVG.

Gas liquids are sent to Jose for fractionation, primarily producing propane and butane used in gas cylinders for cooking, which a large portion of the population relies on. Propane is also a raw material for olefin plants, which further process it into plastic resins. Dry gas sent to Jose powers methanol and ammonia plants, petrochemical exports that provide foreign currency.

How much did the infrastructure suffer?

In brief statements, PDVSA said the fire within the complex originated in the Muscar-Soto line, a 26-inch pipeline transporting dry gas to Anaco. However, several images shared on X suggest more extensive damage. According to an expert and unofficial reports, there is significant damage to pipelines connecting Muscar to nearby compression plants and extraction areas.

What happened after the explosion?

The explosion disabled connections between northern Monagas oil fields and Muscar, cutting off gas flow from Muscar to Anaco. This means all the gas produced in the area has been isolated. Before the accident, eastern Venezuela produced 2,300 MMCFD (million cubic feet per day) of gas, according to a preliminary report from S&P Global Commodity Insights.

Operations at Jose halted immediately after the explosion, along with San Joaquín and Santa Bárbara plants, petrochemical companies Metor I, Metor II, and Fertinitro, CVG, and thermoelectric plants in Anzoátegui, Sucre, and Nueva Esparta. This caused an electrical emergency in Margarita last month.

Unable to process gas from wells, PDVSA had to shut down light crude production near Muscar as an initial measure. Light crude from the region is blended with extra-heavy oil from the Orinoco Belt to produce Merey 16, Venezuela’s most important export-grade crude. PDVSA also had to cut back on Orinoco Belt production due to a lack of diluent after the fire. In the days following the explosion, Venezuela’s exports dropped by about 120,000 barrels per day, according to an expert.

Efecto Cocuyo reported that Muscar supplies 80% of the Jose Cryogenic Complex, which distributes household gas to populations in Guárico and Monagas. Fifteen days after the explosion, Bloomberg noted that butane production had fallen by 97%. Recently, videos and photos of long lines for gas cylinders in Maturín and Anaco have circulated on local media.

What damage control measures has PDVSA taken?

PDVSA reopened nearby wells, resuming light crude shipments to Jose for Merey 16 production. Crude oil output is now only 30,000 bpd below pre-explosion levels. However, all gas from northern Monagas production—around 2,000 MMCFD isolated from Muscar—goes unused, vented into the atmosphere through flaring or torches connected to the fields.

To mitigate the gas deficit, PDVSA increased Guárico’s gas output to 300 MMCFD, cut supply to the Central and Western regions (which have alternative energy sources), and stopped deliveries to Guayana. By recovering approximately 400 MMCFD, the state is sending gas to Nueva Esparta, Sucre, and Jose, albeit with insufficient volume and pressure to fully resume petrochemical operations.

“There’s one methanol train operating, but the ammonia plant is offline and so on,” an expert said. “They’re rationing gas strategically to make the issue less visible.”

According to him, PDVSA’s next step would be to purchase new equipment to reconnect Muscar with Anaco, which could take until 2025.

What do we know about gas flaring in Monagas before and after the explosion?

Before the accident, Venezuela ranked fifth globally in gas flaring—behind Russia, Iran, Iraq, and the US—according to the World Bank. Monagas burned off 1,200–1,300 MMCFD, over half the gas produced in the state. For context, Colombia consumes 800 MMCFD.

This happens because PDVSA’s gas compressors cannot reinject all the associated gas into wells, so the excess is flared. The Pigap I and Pigap II compression plants, designed to inject high-pressure gas into nearby wells, have been out of service for years. They were expropriated by Chávez’s government in 2009, along with 74 other specialized companies. After a pipeline explosion at Pigap II in 2021, then-Minister Tareck El Aissami also referred to it as a “terrorist attack.” In Muscar, the lower-pressure compressors that pump gas to Anaco were also damaged after the recent explosion.

After Muscar caught fire, all gas from the region—over 2,000 MMCFD isolated in Monagas—is now being flared.

“This is a national tragedy,” an expert said. “Significant investments were made to inject gas and water into wells along the Furrial axis to optimize reservoir management and extend their lifespan. Now, pressure has been lost, crude production has decreased, more gas is flared, and pollution rises while the rest of the country suffers from shortages.”