US imports of Venezuela oil top 700,000 b/d in July

Spanish Market: Crude oil, Oil products
01/10/26

US crude imports from Venezuela continued to ramp up in July, rising by 11pc from the prior month, with refiner Valero as the top taker, according to Energy Information Administration (EIA) data.

Total Venezuelan crude imports in July averaged 701,000 b/d, rising from 630,000 b/d in June and the highest volume since May 2017, the EIA said in its latest Petroleum Supply Monthly report.

Imports of Venezuelan crude have ramped up this year since the US capture of former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro in early January and the subsequent lifting of sanctions on that country's crude exports. Previously, only Chevron held a special waiver from US sanctions to operate in Venezuela, limiting imports.

Valero was the largest US recipient of Venezuelan crude in July, with a total of 282,000 b/d at three refineries — its 290,000 b/d Corpus Christi and 385,000 b/d Port Arthur refineries in Texas, and its 215,000 b/d St Charles plant in Louisiana, EIA data show.

Citgo took the second-largest amount of Venezuelan crude in July with 112,000 b/d, while PBF Energy was third at 84,000 b/d.

Other US refiners and trading companies that took Venezuelan crude in July included Phillips 66, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Marathon Petroleum, Pemex-owned Deer Park Refining, and Atlantic Trading and Marketing, according to the EIA data.

While US refiners continue to take Venezuela crude, investment curiosity in that country is building, even as many companies also sound caution.

Continental Resources, the US independent oil and gas firm founded by shale billionaire Harold Hamm, said last month that it plans to operate and develop a crude block in the Orinoco belt with Venezuela's state-owned PdV.

Chevron has agreed to spend more than $7bn over the next five years to double its production from Venezuela.

In addition, the White House announced a deal last month in which the US would take a 35pc stake in a little-known company purporting to invest $100bn in 17 Venezuela oil fields in exchange for promising to buy at least 20pc of future production at cost.

Oil services companies are also making moves into Venezuela.

Oilfield services giant Halliburton said last week that it signed agreements with Eneva, Brazil's biggest private natural gas operator, and engineering company West-Construcciones to support energy projects in Venezuela.

By Eunice Bridges

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01/10/26

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Lube industry bodies need to guide sector: UEIL

01/10/26

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Saudi East-West crude pipeline at 5.5mn b/d: Source

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Europe’s industrial decline challenges lube sector

01/10/26

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