Venezuela’s oil exports fall to four-month low

Oil

Venezuela’s oil exports declined by 100K b/d (or 14.5%) m-o-m to 594K b/d in May, falling to the lowest level since January after a gas supply outage in the country’s main producing region forced operations to halt at the Jose oil export terminal, according to Reuters reporting on data from Refinitiv Eikon and Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA). Production was also restricted by a limited availability of light crude and oil products used to dilute Venezuela’s heavy crude into exportable grades. Around 75% of total shipments were reportedly headed to Asia, with most being chartered by unknown buyers who have been purchasing cargoes after sanctions imposed by the US last year restricted PDVSA’s ability to find customers.