Venezuelan Oil Exports Drop in September as Freight Rates Rise

Venezuela's oil exports declined almost 9% to 1.08 million barrels per day in September from the previous month as traders pressed state-run PDVSA for price discounts to offset rising freight costs, shipping data showed on Thursday.

Global trading houses including Vitol and Trafigura began pushing for steeper discounts on Venezuelan crude last month as rising freight rates shrank their ‌margins, which contributed to tanker re-routings and shipping delays accumulated from previous months.

The situation is expected to continue affecting demand for Venezuela's crude this month, traders and shippers have said.

Venezuela's oil exports, which have been under Washington's oversight since US forces captured then-President Nicolas Maduro in January, increased to the US last month with 629,000 bpd sent to that destination versus 553,000 bpd in August.

Shipments to India fell to 253,000 bpd from 297,000 bpd in August, while those to Europe decreased to some 86,000 bpd from 260,000 bpd. Exports to storage terminals in the Caribbean rose to 76,000 bpd from 60,000 in that period, according to the data, based on tanker movements.

Exports of Venezuelan crude by US energy major Chevron CVX.N, PDVSA's largest joint venture partner, remained almost unchanged at 283,000 bpd in September, while the trading firms shipped some 637,000 bpd to several destinations, above the 597,000 bpd of August.

Venezuela also exported some 204,000 metric tons of oil byproducts and petrochemicals in September, an increase from 190,000 tons the previous month as global demand for products like methanol and ammonia remained strong.

The South American country's imports of heavy naphtha and other refined products declined to 99,000 bpd last month from 166,000 bpd in August, the data showed.

Crude inventories at the Jose terminal, the country's largest, showed a modest drain from higher levels earlier this year, according to internal PDVSA documents.

Venezuela produced 1.2 million bpd of crude in August, unchanged from July but above the same month last year, it reported to OPEC.

Venezuelan oil exports fell to 1.08 million bpd in September https://tmsnrt.rs/47AmlfD

(Reuters)