News
25/01/26
Venezuela’s crude revival makes slow start
Sao Paulo, 25 January (Argus) — The expected revival of Venezuelan crude trade
following the US' 3 January capture of the country's president Nicolas Maduro is
making a slow start. But shipments are starting to increase, with more oil
moving to the US Gulf coast and storage locations in the Caribbean, at the
expense of buyers in Asia. Trafigura and Vitol, the trading firms engaged by the
US to market 30mn-50mn bl of Venezuelan crude held in storage, have in the past
week offered cargoes to the US market at a $9/bl discount to Ice Brent on a
delivered basis, and to Chinese buyers at a $5/bl discount to Ice Brent, sources
say. Cargoes to Europe were offered at a discount of about $6/bl to Ice Brent on
the same basis, they say. No deals have yet been confirmed, but Vitol has
secured the Suezmax Poliegos to load Venezuelan crude from 30 January for
delivery to the Mediterranean, according to brokers. Vitol owns and operates the
300,000 b/d Sarroch refinery on the Italian island of Sardinia, the last
Mediterranean refinery to take Venezuelan crude in 2025 before the US tightened
sanctions on the country. A number of tankers have loaded or are loading crude
at Venezuela's Jose terminal, Argus tracking shows. The Ionic Anassa, an
Aframax, loaded 500,000 bl on 22 January and is headed to Freeport, Texas. The
Canopus Voyager, another Aframax, loaded a similar amount on 20-21 January and
is headed to the US. The Folegandros, a Suezmax, is in the Atlantic headed
towards Venezuela, although its destination is shown as Rotterdam. Broker
information indicates that it will load 130,000t of crude, or 1mn bl, at Jose in
early February, chartered by Trafigura. The Nissos Koufonissi has no destination
but is making a similar voyage, with broker information showing a charter by
Trafigura to load 130,000t of crude in February at Jose. Trafigura did not
respond to a request for comment. Non-sanctioned crude shipments from Venezuela
this month have gone either to the US Gulf coast or storage in the Caribbean,
tanker tracking data indicate, while shipments to Asia-Pacific have dried up
almost entirely (see table). Only the Priya is heading to Malaysia after leaving
Venezuela on 15 January. The tanker's IMO code refers to the Vesna, which is
under western sanctions. The sanctioned tankers Nayara and Jamaica headed to
Malaysia and Curacao, respectively, in early January before the US seized
Maduro, according to Vortexa. Venezuela exported 14 crude cargoes on
non-sanctioned vessels over 1-21 January, of which 10 headed to the US Gulf
coast. The 17 tankers to have loaded in total over 1-21 January are equivalent
to around 526,000 b/d of crude exports, down from 590,000 b/d over the same
period in December. Market participants expect Trafigura and Vitol to prioritise
exports to the US Gulf coast before offering cargoes elsewhere, most likely
India and China, and could soon be loading at least 20 Aframax-sized vessels a
month, according to one market source. Caribbean dream In the meantime, a lot of
Venezuelan crude is heading into Caribbean storage on non-sanctioned vessels.
Nearly half of the supply shipped on non-sanctioned tankers this month has
headed to Caribbean destinations including Curacao, Aruba and the Bahamas,
Vortexa data show, and Vitol appears to be directing at least 10 Venezuelan
crude cargoes towards storage in Curacao, market sources say. Shipments to
Caribbean destinations in December were lower, according to Vortexa, with 14pc
of exports heading to St Lucia and 7pc to Cuba. Non-sanctioned offers to
Asia-Pacific were considered too expensive by Chinese buyers, given competitive
prices for similar-quality grades elsewhere in the Americas, such as Canadian
and Colombian supply. By Joao Scheller, Adam Porter and Rhys van Dinther
Venezuela crude shipments 1-21 Jan 1-21 Dec Cargoes 17 14 Volume b/d 526,000
590,000 Destination share, % US Gulf coast 51 40 Caribbean 42 23 Asia-Pacific 7
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