- Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri expressed confidence that “constraints” on Venezuelan crude exports would be eased.
By Ricardo Vaz
CARACAS, (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuela’s oil industry saw a slight production decrease following several months of sustained improvement, according to the latest OPEC data. The most recent OPEC monthly report placed the South American country’s February output at 892,000 barrels per day (bpd), as measured by secondary sources. The figure represents an 18,000 bpd reduction compared to January.
For its part, state oil company PDVSA reported a February production of 1.03 million bpd, up from 998,000 bpd in January. The direct and secondary data have had minor discrepancies through the years over disagreements on the inclusion of natural gas liquids and condensates.
Last month also saw an increase in crude exports with more China- and US-bound shipments. However, according to Reuters, operations have recently faced bottlenecks over light crude shortages. Venezuela has resumed imports of the inputs required to produce its exportable blends.
Venezuela’s latest output remains around the highest mark since the early 2019 US export embargo. Washington’s coercive measures against the industry, which have also included financial sanctions and secondary sanctions, led output to plummet to historic lows around 350,000 bpd in mid-2020 before steadily recovering.
Nevertheless, PDVSA’s ability to expand production and exports remains heavily curtailed by US sanctions. General License 44 (GL44), issued by the Biden administration in October 2023, allowed the Caribbean nation to sell crude freely, without levying discounts or resorting to unreliable intermediaries.
Washington did not renew GL44, reimposing wide-reaching restrictions in April 2024 over accusations that the Nicolás Maduro government had not fulfilled an agreement with the US-backed opposition.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has seen foreign policy hardliners lobby for harsher sanctions against Caracas. Trump, who in his first term imposed a “maximum pressure” approach in an effort to trigger regime change, has suggested that the US could stop “buying oil” from Venezuela.
Officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio have raised the prospect of withdrawing Chevron’s Treasury Department license to operate and sell crude from its Venezuela joint ventures. The Biden White House issued the waiver in November 2022 and it has been automatically renewed every six months. It was the only major departure from its predecessor’s sanctions policy.
For its part, the US oil corporation has defended its presence in Venezuela and is reportedly “in contact” with the Trump administration regarding its “objectives and limitations.” Chevron holds minority stakes in four joint ventures that are currently responsible for about a quarter of the country’s total crude output.
India ‘expecting more oil’
The Nicolás Maduro government has made overtures and offered advantages to potential partners in a bid to secure oil industry investments and trade.
Caracas has long looked to India as a prime destination for crude exports, but US secondary sanctions threats and overcompliance have halted agreements. However, Indian officials have expressed optimism that the flow of Venezuelan crude to the South Asian giant could increase.
“Earlier, Venezuelan oil was not available in the market because of international constraints. Now, all the signals point in the direction of those constraints being eased,” Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri stated during the ongoing India Energy Week. “We can expect more oil to come from Venezuela.”
Singh Puri recalled that both public and private Indian companies have had dealings with the Venezuelan oil sector and affirmed he was confident that past “payment issues” would be resolved. US sanctions have hampered PDVSA’s ability to deliver dividends to its partners.
Venezuela’s vice president and oil minister Delcy Rodríguez attended the gathering in New Delhi to tout investment opportunities in the country’s energy sector.
“The times have shown that those who wanted to sideline Venezuela from the international energy formula are wrong,” she said during one of the events. “President Maduro has declared that Venezuela’s oil resources should be at the service of the people’s development.”
Rodríguez had previously visited India to discuss joint energy projects in October 2024.
India’s Reliance Industries, owner of the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, Gujarat state, was the only company to receive a US Treasury Department green light for Venezuelan crude imports since the reinstatement of wide-reaching sanctions in April 2024. The Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate received several crude shipments and executed oil-for-naphtha swaps with PDVSA.
Other Indian enterprises, including the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), have lobbied for similar permissions.
Several other global energy firms are likewise aiming for trade and investment opportunities in Venezuela’s energy sector. Amos Global Energy Management has reportedly purchased a minority stake in the PetroParia venture from China’s Sinopec. The US firm will now hold 40 percent of PetroParia’s shares, with PDVSA owning the remaining 60.
Amos is led by Ali Moshiri, a former Chevron executive, and has expressed belief that there are lucrative prospects in oil and natural gas exploration. However, the reported purchase and future investments are pending authorization from the US Treasury.
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