<article><p class="lead">An Iranian condensate shipment has arrived in Venezuela in defiance of US oil sanctions targeting both Opec producers.</p><p>Up to 2mn bl of Iranian condensate that arrived at Venezuela state-owned PdV's Jose terminal on 13 September will be used as diluent with Orinoco extra-heavy crudes to produce exportable 16° API Merey for export, according to union and company officials.</p><p>PdV joint ventures expected to receive some of the Iranian condensate include PetroSinovensa, PetroMonagas, PetroPiar and PetroIndependencia. PdV will also use some of the imported condensate as diluent in its Morichal operations in the oil belt's Carabobo section. It may also go into the Jose cryogenic complex for processing to yield propane for the bottled gas market, according to sources.</p><p>The Iranian condensate was transported to Jose aboard the Iran-flagged crude tanker <i>Horse</i>, according to several sources, although PdV terminal documents seen by <i>Argus </i>identify the vessel as <i>Honey</i>. <i>Horse </i>was last seen in the Mideast Gulf 39 days ago according to vessel-tracking data. </p><p>An oil ministry official said the tanker easily evaded US sanctions by shutting off its transponder.</p><p>Using its own fleet is the only way for Iran to export oil as the threat of US sanctions is preventing most maritime market participants from transporting Iranian cargoes. Iran delivered five shipments of gasoline and alkylate to Venezuela in May-June using Iranian tankers. The US claims to have seized four additional gasoline cargoes from Iran to Venezuela aboard Liberian-flagged vessels. </p><h3>Orinoco output update</h3><p>PdV's most recent Orinoco division daily output report dated 12 September shows that Sinovensa, PetroMonagas, PetroIndependencia, PetroPiar and PdV's Morichal district produced a combined 158,157 b/d of extra-heavy crude, or 83pc of the oil belt's total current output of 190,862 b/d. </p><p>PetroPiar produced 81,100 b/d of Orinoco crude on 13 September and averaged 51,900 b/d during the first 12 days of the month. PetroIndependencia is currently producing 10,540 b/d, PetroMonagas is producing 36,924 b/d, Sinovensa 15,027 b/d and the Morichal district 14,566 b/d, b/d, according to the daily operating report. </p><p>PetroMonagas, Sinovensa and PetroIndependencia were mostly shut down in August as exports backed up due to maxed-out storage space and a tanker bottleneck. </p></article>
