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Venezuela oil exports rise sharply in January under US control, data shows
(Reuters) – Venezuelan oil exports rose to some 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, from 498,000 bpd in December, after the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro and the ending of an oil blockade which has let traders carry most exports, shipping data showed.
Washington imposed an oil embargo on the U.S.-sanctioned country in December to pressure Maduro and seized seven tankers.
The blockade led to the accumulation of more than 40 million barrels of crude and fuel in onshore tanks and vessels that could not be exported and forced Venezuela’s state-run energy company PDVSA to cut output in early January.
Since the U.S. Treasury Department extended the first licenses to traders Trafigura and Vitol in January to begin exporting the stocks, oil production, processing and shipments from the OPEC member have accelerated, the data, which is based on tanker movements, shows.
A view of the installations at the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, January 23, 2026. REUTERS/Samir Aponte/File Photo
The January volume was close to average exports of 847,000 bpd of crude and fuel last year. However, PDVSA’s partners and traders would have to continue accelerating the pace of exports to drain millions of barrels still in inventories, so crude output cuts can be fully reversed.
The January exports were slightly lower than the 867, 000 bpd shipped in the same month of 2025, the data showed.
The Treasury Department last week issued a broad license authorizing business between U.S. companies and PDVSA to export, store, transport and refine Venezuelan oil, another step to untangle exports. PDVSA’s partners, including Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab, are still waiting for individual licenses to expand operations.
The United States last month regained its position as the main individual destination of Venezuela’s crude with some 284,000 bpd exported there, of which 220,000 bpd were shipped by Chevron, up from the 99,000 bpd it sent the previous month.
China, which until December was the top destination of Venezuelan oil, with than 70% of total exports, received 156,000 bpd last month. There were no exports to political ally Cuba.
Vitol and Trafigura exported 12 million barrels of Venezuelan crude and fuel oil under U.S. licenses, or about 392,000 bpd in January, mostly to storage terminals in the Caribbean, the data showed, from which they began exporting and marketing cargoes to customers in the U.S., Europe and India.
Between 18 million and 38 million barrels more are yet to be exported under the $2 billion flagship supply deal agreed by Caracas and Washington shortly after Maduro’s capture, with sale proceeds going to a U.S.-supervised fund.
Venezuela exported its first cargo of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) in almost three years on Sunday, on board the Trafigura-chartered vessel Chrysopigi Lady, which departed from the Jose port. The South American country used to export small volumes of LPG to Cuba, according to the shipping data.
Chevron and Vitol also delivered some heavy naphtha cargoes to PDVSA and its joint ventures in January, key imports to dilute Venezuela’s extra heavy crude and secure the production of exportable grades.
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