[imagesource:pxfuel]

This may sound like something from an X-files episode, but there is a scientific explanation, so leave the aliens out of this one. For now…

Venezuelan taxi driver Jose Faria’s vehicle was one of dozens to spontaneously burst into flames in Maracaibo, Venezuela, in an alarming phenomenon blamed on poor fuel quality.

Faria and his wife, Leydi, were in a gasoline queue when he heard a strange noise coming from the back seat. He looked around just in time for the explosion that left him with second-degree burns.

“People were scared. Even though they tried to help us there was no extinguisher, no sand, no water and, yes, the fire grew to a point where nobody could do anything.”

Faria’s terrifying story is not new, and almost daily for the last few weeks, there have been reports of cars going up in flames all over the northwestern state of Zulia. According to reports, the fire department receives about four calls per day about burning cars and even social media has been able with reports of spontaneous fires erupting in people’s cars.

The reasons for the fires appear to be linked to poor gasoline quality, although the state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) denies these claims.

We have to pause here for a second to consider that Venezeula’s government is similar to ours, and even if the state apparatus is covered in blood, they will deny, deny, deny, and blame someone else. Usually the West, but in this case no CIA agents were reported running around Zulia with cans of dodgy US petrol.

So ja, it’s probably kak fuel from the state refinery.

A former PDVSA director is quoted as saying: “There have been refinery failures” at the Paraguana complex. The government is, however, maintaining that all is well at the complex that serves as the main crude oil-to-fuel processing, refinery, and distribution centre.

Large-scale fuel smuggling to Colombia is also being cited as a cause for the poor quality of fuel after the Venezuelan government introduced generous fuel subsidies that made fuel practically free. The runaway inflation meant that in 2019, a supermarket egg cost the same as 90 million litres of gasoline.

But domestic supply failures necessitated the importation of “poor quality fuels” from Iran. And now cars are catching alight. Such is the knock-on effects of stupid government decisions.

The government has however gone on the charm offensive and launched a social media campaign defending the quality of PDVSA fuel (deny, deny, deny). In the government-sponsored clip, people pass a plastic container of fuel between them, smelling at the contents to “verify” the quality.

“PDVSA founds the first academy of gasoline sommeliers.”

See, all very scientific and totes legit.

So while the Venezuelan government insists its fuel is up there with the best vintages, it’s once again left to the ordinary people who use the socialist-minded government’s services to foot the bill and count the costs.

Fire extinguisher sales, meanwhile, have skyrocketed, so expect an additional fire-prevention tax to be levied soon.

[source:briefly]