Venezuela’s oil exports surpassed 900,000 barrels per day in August, the highest level since November, after energy producer Chevron received a license that has allowed the OPEC country’s crude to return to the U.S. market after a four-month pause, shipping data showed.
The U.S. Treasury Department last month issued a restricted authorization for Chevron, one of the main partners of Venezuelan state company PDVSA, to operate in the sanctioned South American country and export its oil.
The resumption of Chevron flows to the U.S., coupled with larger cargoes to Venezuela’s primary destination of China, led to a 27% increase in exports last month to an average of 966,485 bpd, according to data based on tanker movements.
Stable output and no outages at crude upgraders and blending facilities in the Orinoco Belt – Venezuela’s main producing region – also contributed to higher oil inventories and exports, according to an internal PDVSA document.
Exports to China, both direct and indirect after ship-to-ship transfers, represented 85% of last month’s total flows out of the country, a reduction from almost 95% in July. Some 60,000 bpd of Venezuelan oil reached the U.S., while Cuba received about 29,000 bpd of crude and fuel. Several cargoes of Venezuelan methanol went to Europe.
Venezuela exported some 275,000 metric tons of oil byproducts and petrochemicals in August, an increase from the 227,000 tons shipped during the previous month and the highest amount since May.
The country ramped up imports of much needed light oil and naphtha to dilute its extra heavy oil output and produce exportable crude grades, reaching 99,000 bpd versus 58,000 bpd in July, the data showed.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Nathan Crooks and Nick Zieminski)