But an increasing number of customers have been cleared by
PDVSA in recent months, green-lighting them to resume taking
delivery following account reconciliations and the signing of
new contracts under firmer payment terms.
In April, a total of 43 cargoes departed Venezuelan ports
carrying an average of 703,167 bpd of crude and fuel and 609,000
metric tonnes of petrochemicals and byproducts, according to
PDVSA documents and Refinitiv Eikon vessel monitoring data.
The oil exports were off 9% from the 773,452 bpd shipped in
March, but were the second highest monthly average since
September.
Oil byproducts and petrochemical exports recovered strongly
from previous months, reaching the second highest on record
after January's 727,000 tonnes.
U.S.-based oil major Chevron's exports to the United
States, under a license issued by the Treasury Department in
November, also contributed to the overall export recovery. The
company last month shipped 141,000 bpd to U.S. refiners and a
storage terminal in Bahamas.
Exports to Venezuela's political ally Cuba, which is facing
an acute fuel scarcity, fell to some 45,000 bpd of crude, fuel
oil, gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas; from 76,200
bpd the previous months.
Venezuela last month received a 450,000-barrel cargo of
naphtha from Chevron, and 2.14 million barrels of condensate
from Iran's Naftiran Intertrade Company (NICO), both for
diluting PDVSA's extra heavy oil output. Another Iran-flagged
tanker, the Hero II, arrived in Venezuelan waters this week
bringing imports, according to TankerTrackers.com
<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Venezuelan oil exports find stability following widespread audit GRAPHIC-Venezuela's monthly oil exports Venezuelan oil gets more US buyers as Chevron steps up loadings ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Mircely Guanipa
in Punto Fijo, Venezuela; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)