Fuel Shortages the New Normal in Venezuela as Oil Industry Unravels

Motorists line up for fuel at a gas station of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA in San Cristobal, Venezuela on Nov. 10, 2018 . Carlos Eduardo Ramirez/Reuters

VALENCIA/CARACAS—With chronic shortages of basic goods afflicting her native Venezuela, Veronica Perez used to drive from supermarket to supermarket in her gray Chevrolet Aveo searching for food.

But the 54-year-old engineer has abandoned the practice because of shortages of something that should be abundant in a country with the world’s largest oil reserves: gasoline.