Venezuela Oil Exports Hit 7-Year High as U.S., India, Europe Ramp Up Buying

By Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa

May 1 (Reuters) – Venezuela’s oil exports rose 14% to 1.23 million barrels per day in April, the highest in more than seven years, fueled by more sales to the United States, India and Europe, shipping data and documents from state company PDVSA showed on Friday.

The South American country has been draining oil inventories and recovering crude output in recent months following the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro in January, which led to a flagship supply pact between the governments of U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez.

The agreement, coupled with U.S. licenses easing sanctions on the country this year, has allowed PDVSA’s joint-venture partners and trading houses including Vitol and Trafigura to receive cargoes from the state firm for sales to refiners in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

In April, a total of 66 vessels departed from Venezuelan waters, compared with 61 ships that carried 1.08 million bpd of crude and refined products in March, according to the data, based on tanker movements.

The April average is the highest monthly volume since late 2018, before U.S. sanctions were imposed on Venezuela’s energy industry.

ALL OVER THE WORLD

The main destination of Venezuela’s oil last month was the U.S. with some 445,000 bpd directly exported, above the 363,000 bpd of March. Exports to India rose to 374,000 bpd from 342,000 bpd the previous month, while shipments to Europe increased to some 165,000 bpd from 144,000 bpd.

Some 187,000 bpd of Venezuelan crude and fuel went to storage terminals in the Caribbean for further sales.

The trading firms carried about 56% of total exports or 691,000 bpd, while U.S. company Chevron CVX.N was responsible for 25% or 308,000 bpd, an increase from 267,000 bpd in March.

Indian refiner Reliance Industries RELI.NS received a large crude cargo directly from PDVSA and bought several from the traders last month, the data showed.

Under the supply pact, Venezuela’s oil exports have gained diversity while reaching more customers over recent months, a shift from limitations imposed by previous sanctions. The U.S. continues controlling the OPEC country’s sale proceeds through Treasury Department-supervised accounts.

Sales to Reliance are set to continue growing this month, with at least three supertankers chartered by the Indian firm waiting to load at Venezuela’s ports, according to LSEG ship monitoring data.

Venezuela also exported 360,000 metric tons of oil byproducts and petrochemicals in April, slightly below the 382,000 tons of the previous month; and imported some 141,000 bpd of naphtha versus 155,000 bpd in March.

Venezuelan oil exports reached highest average since late 2018 https://tmsnrt.rs/4t5mFvd

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa. Editing by Nathan Crooks, Mark Potter and Andrea Ricci)

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This article contains reporting from Reuters, published under license.

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