Devil’s advocate but I think part of this has to do with how crude oil and ethane are stored. They’re different materials. Crude oil is a liquid stored in barrels and is fine at room temperature. Ethane is a compressed gas that is often kept refrigerated. Shell might have run out of room in the tanks to store compressed ethane or something or was running into pressure thresholds in the pipes.

Also fuck shell and good on Venezuela for being comrades with Cuba.