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According to Reuters’ ship tracking data and documents, Venezuela’s oil exports increased to 670,000 barrels per day (bpd) in February. Customers of state oil company PDVSA have rushed to send oil tankers to Venezuela in recent months to collect crude oil and fuel before the United States has the ability to reimpose oil sanctions on the country.
On October 18, the US government announced the relaxation of most of the sanctions targeting Venezuela’s oil sector, making the country’s crude oil more attractive than ever. Deliveries to customers last month, including Chevron (USA) and Reliance Industries of India, increased compared to January. However, the data also shows that weaker output and a lack of diluents to produce exportable grades have prevented PDVSA from increasing total exports.
PDVSA and its joint ventures exported an average of 671,140 barrels of crude oil and fuel per day, mainly to Asia, a 7.5% increase from January. Venezuela also exported 197,000 tons of byproducts from oil and petroleum, lower than the 286,000 tons in January.
Chevron’s crude oil shipments from Venezuela to the United States have increased to 184,000 bpd from 107,000 bpd the previous month. Venezuela’s exports to Cuba remain at around 34,000 bpd, while exports to other Caribbean islands have increased slightly.
Internal documents from the company showed that the inventory of Merey 16 crude oil and the lack of imported diluents at Jose – Venezuela’s main oil port, have prevented PDVSA from promoting exports to meet contractual supply agreements.
According to LSEG’s ship monitoring data, some large oil tankers heading to Asia have left Venezuelan ports without loading cargo in recent days after waiting for weeks.
The documents showed that Jose port has recovered from power outages and sluggish crude blending that affected loading operations in January. Four of the five upgraded crude oil upgrading and blending stations came into operation last month, which will lead to higher exports in March.
As of February 29, at least 18 supertankers were waiting in line near Venezuela’s Jose and Amuay ports – where PDVSA handles the majority of its exports. This number increased from just a dozen tankers in late November. Conversely, Venezuela’s fuel imports increased to 144,000 bpd from 122,000 bpd in January.
In 2022, Venezuela’s average production was 600,000 to 700,000 bpd, while average exports were over 600,000 bpd.
Venezuela is the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, estimated at over 300 billion barrels – compared to Vietnam’s approximately 4.4 billion barrels. However, US sanctions and other issues have prevented the country from fully exploiting its abundant oil resources.
According to Reuters
