Venezuela's state-owned oil and products shipping arm, PdV Marina, has moved into a more central position in managing crude and product shipments as the US has exerted control over the sector since its 3 January takeover, sources say.
PdV Marina now handles all operations related to oil ports, taking that function from the national ports authority, Bolivariano de Puertos, a source in the operations department of PdV Marina who asked not to be named said.
The arm is also now also overseeing loadings out of Venezuelan ports by Trafigura and Vitol, the two international traders most active in Venezuela after the US government approved them to market unsanctioned Venezuelan oil. PdV Marina receives reports and daily cargoes schedules but most of the shipments are carried out on tankers not owned by PdV Marina.
PdV Marina also in November had suspended a joint venture with Cuban state-owned Cubametales, which was a previous buyer of Venezuelan crude and has been sanctioned by the US since 2019. Venezuela — previously Cuba's main supplier of oil — has sent no new shipments to Cuba since the US arrested former leader Nicolas Maduro on 3 January.
PdV Marina previously focused more on management of its own fleet, which consisted of 22 tankers before former president Hugo Chavez came to power in 1999. But lack of proper maintenance has reduced the number of working tankers to five, pushing PdV to use more chartered vessels.
PdV Marina's involvement in Venezuela's crude flows had dwindled in recent years, especially after a series of corruption allegations related to the mismanagement of funds meant to modernize and repair tankers under the former administration of Adan Chavez in 2020.
Some $3bn in cyptocurrency funds that Venezuela's government said in 2023 that it had lost was also related to port management, as much of the funds dealt with unpaid crude already shipped by Venezuela.
The port management change is part of a broader strategy by the US to exert its influence both in Venezuela's oil shipments as well as at ports of call in central and South America, a former supervisor at PdV Marina and current lecturer in maritime and energy issues said. The source also asked not to be named.
PdV through PdV Marina has been part of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code mechanism crested in 2004 by the International Maritime Organization to strengthen security and safety measures. Improving infrastructure and overhauling Venezuela's oil ports and tankers to better comply with the code will be essential for Venezuela to further increase it oil output from 1.2mn b/d, industry sources have said.
US refiners have indicated that they are eager to absorb more Venezuelan crude, and US imports from Venezuela hit their highest in nine years at 743,000 b/d in the latest week, according to preliminary US Energy Information Administration data.
