Venezuela’s oil exports hit four-year high in August

By Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa

HOUSTON/MARACAY (Reuters) – Venezuela’s oil exports hit their highest level in more than four years in August, shipping data showed, boosted by increased shipments to China, the United States and Europe, as the risk of new U.S. sanctions rises amid an election dispute.

The U.S. Treasury last year granted a broad license allowing Venezuela to freely export its oil, easing sanctions imposed by the Trump administration since 2019. The authorization was not renewed in April, but individual energy licenses have been issued since then.

State oil company PDVSA and joint ventures with U.S. oil company Chevron and Spain’s Repsol exported an average of nearly 885,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and fuel in August, according to data based on tanker movements.

This is 50% more than the previous month and 62% more than in the same month of 2023, according to the data.

A dispute over Venezuela’s July presidential election has pushed the OPEC member country into a new political crisis, with incumbent President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez claiming victory.

Washington has threatened new sanctions if Maduro’s government continues on what the United States describes as a path toward isolation and political persecution.

ENERGY CHIEF RESHAP

In August, Maduro reshuffled his cabinet, reassigning oil minister Pedro Tellechea, who was also PDVSA CEO, to industry minister, while appointing vice president Delcy Rodriguez as oil minister and promoting PDVSA vice president Hector Obregon to CEO.

Maduro and Rodriguez also appointed new vice ministers and PDVSA board members this week.

A total of 51 cargoes carrying Venezuelan crude oil, fuel, oil derivatives and petrochemicals left the country’s waters last month, with Asia again being the main destination, followed by the United States, Europe and Cuba.

Chevron’s crude exports to its U.S. refineries and other customers reached 227,000 b/d, the second-highest monthly average this year, while Repsol shipped some 86,000 b/d to the United States and Europe, down from 102,000 b/d in July, the data showed.

Spanish imports of Venezuelan oil this year have already exceeded the 2023 total, according to data released this week by a branch of Spain’s Ministry of Energy and Environment.

In recent years, Chevron, Repsol and other foreign energy companies have expanded their operations in Venezuela with U.S. permits. Washington said last month that it had no plans to revoke those licenses, but it has not raised the issue recently.

Venezuela also exported 589,000 tons of petroleum products and petrochemicals, up from 266,000 tons in July. The country’s fuel imports increased to about 90,000 b/d, up from 59,000 b/d in July, the data showed.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Mircely Guanipa in Maracay, Venezuela; editing by Jan Harvey)