Venezuela’s oil exports remained almost unchanged in November at 651 thousand barrels per day, even with the easing of US sanctions now allowing sales to commercial companies, according to shipping and tanker tracking data.
In October, Washington temporarily lifted oil sanctions imposed on the country, as a way to encourage the holding of presidential elections in 2024, prompting immediate sales of Venezuelan crude and fuel oil to traders heading mostly to China, and the state company “PDVSA” recently negotiated sales of goods bound for India through intermediaries.
However, the stagnation of crude oil production, long-term loading delays, the aversion of some shipping companies to sending ships to Venezuela, leads to the rearrangement of exports to different customers, without increasing the total volumes shipped.
A total of 40 ships left Venezuelan ports last month, carrying an average of 651 thousand barrels per day of crude oil and fuel, 434 thousand metric tons of petrochemicals and by-products, petroleum exports decreased by 2.3% compared to October, while by-products increased from 229 thousand tons in the previous month.
