Venezuela News

Venezuelan oil exports rose to some 800,000 barrels per day (bpd) in January, from 498,000 bpd in December, after the U.S. capture of Nicolas Maduro and the ending of an oil blockade which has let traders carry most exports, shipping data showed.Washington imposed an oil embargo on the U.S.-sanctioned country in December to pressure Maduro and seized seven tankers.The blockade led to the accumulation of more than 40 million barrels of crude and fuel in onshore tanks and vessels…

Oil producer Chevron is set to boost exports of Venezuelan crude to the U.S. to some 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) in March, from 100,000 bpd in December and some 230,000 bpd so far this month, two sources with knowledge of the plans said on Wednesday.The U.S. company, which is the main partner of Venezuela's state-run energy firm PDVSA, has chartered about a dozen tankers to increase shipments and drain inventories accumulated at its projects since December, when a U.S. blockade hit the OPEC country's exports…

The captain of a Venezuela-linked crude oil tanker seized by the U.S. this month has been taken from British territorial waters and is now aboard a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, a lawyer for the captain's wife said on Tuesday.The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. military special forces, bearing a judicial seizure warrant, apprehended the Russian-flagged Marinera in the Atlantic near Iceland on January 7 after pursuing it for more than two weeks as part of Washington's efforts to block Venezuelan oil exports.After its capture…

Family members of two men killed in a U.S. missile strike against a suspected drug boat near Venezuela filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging the pair were murdered in a "manifestly unlawful" military campaign targeting civilian vessels.Civil rights lawyers filed the lawsuit in Boston's federal court, marking the first court challenge to one of the 36 U.S. missile strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean authorized by President Donald Trump's administration…

A crude tanker chartered by Trafigura departed on Sunday from Venezuela's Jose port to Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), LSEG data and documents showed, the first cargo going directly to the U.S. as part of a 50-million-barrel supply deal agreed this month between Caracas and Washington.This month, trading houses Vitol and Trafigura received the first U.S. licenses to load and export Venezuelan oil as part of the deal. They have since shipped cargoes to storage terminals in the Caribbean…

Venezuelan oil exports under a flagship $2 billion supply deal with the U.S. reached about 7.8 million barrels on Wednesday, vessel-tracking data and documents from state-run PDVSA showed, with shipments accelerating after the U.S. eased its blockade but not enough for PDVSA to fully reverse output cuts.Following the U.S. capture of President Nicolas Maduro in early January, Caracas and Washington agreed to a deal to sell up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude stored in tanks and vessels. Trading houses Vitol and Trafigura obtained the first U.S.

The U.S. military said it seized a Venezuela-linked tanker on Tuesday in the Caribbean, marking the seventh such apprehension since the start of U.S. President Donald Trump's month-long campaign to control Venezuela's oil flows.The U.S. military's Southern Command, which is overseeing nearly a dozen warships and thousands of troops in the Caribbean, said in a statement it apprehended the Motor Vessel Sagitta "without incident.""The apprehension of another tanker operating in defiance…

The U.S. Department of Energy is exploring a plan to exchange heavy Venezuelan oil for U.S. medium, sour crude to fill up the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, two sources said on Friday.The Trump administration is looking to move the Venezuelan crude into storage tanks at the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port from where the crude can be shipped to refineries. In exchange for the Venezuelan crude, companies will provide U.S. medium sour crude that can go directly into SPR storage, two sources said.Exchanges have been used in the past by the government to release and acquire oil.

The United States has seized another Venezuela-linked tanker, U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday, ahead of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.The seizure marks the sixth vessel targeted since mid-December that was either carrying Venezuelan oil or had done so in the past. The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the seizure took place in the Caribbean.The U.S. military's Southern Command confirmed the pre-dawn operation, saying U.S.

The U.S. government has filed for court warrants to seize dozens more tankers linked to the Venezuelan oil trade, four sources familiar with the matter said, as Washington consolidates control of oil shipments in and out of the South American country.The U.S. military and Coast Guard have seized five vessels in recent weeks in international waters that were either carrying Venezuelan oil or have done so in the past. The seizures were part of Washington's campaign to force Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro out of power that culminated in U.S.

At least two supertankers, not under sanctions, were departing Venezuelan waters on Monday carrying crude, according to monitoring service Tankertrackers.com and shipping records from state-run company PDVSA seen by Reuters.Venezuela's oil exports had remained at an almost complete standstill since mid-December, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned vessels going in and out the OPEC country's waters.U.S. forces intercepted and seized five Venezuela-linked vessels as a way to pressure the government…

Two China-flagged supertankers that were sailing to Venezuela to pick up debt-paying crude cargoes amid the U.S. oil embargo on the OPEC country have made u-turn and are now heading back to Asia, LSEG shipping data showed on Monday.Following the U.S. announcement last week of a $2 billion deal to export up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil stuck in storage, U.S. president Donald Trump said China would not be deprived of Venezuela's crude.But the Asian country, the first market of the South American nation's oil…

Oil companies aiming to participate in new exports of Venezuelan crude to the U.S. following the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro are in hasty discussions to find tankers and put together operations to transfer the crude safely from vessels and dilapidated Venezuelan ports, four sources familiar with the operations said.Trading houses and oil companies, including Chevron, Vitol and Trafigura, are competing for U.S. government deals to export crude from Venezuela, sources said…

Oil prices fell slightly on Monday after Iran said it had total control following the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years, easing some concerns over supply, while investors also weighed efforts to resume oil exports from Venezuela.Brent crude futures lost 28 cents, or 0.44%, to $63.06 a barrel by 1402 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $58.78 a barrel, down 34 cents, or 0.58%."Lower European equity markets and lack of additional supply disruptions is moderately weighing on oil prices…

OPEC's oil output fell in December due to lower supply from Iran and Venezuela, which offset an OPEC+ agreement to raise production for the month, a Reuters survey found on Friday.The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries pumped 28.40 million barrels per day last month, down 100,000 bpd from November's revised total, the survey showed, with Iran posting the largest decline.OPEC+, comprising OPEC and allies including Russia, has slowed the pace of its monthly output increases amid concerns of a supply glut.

The U.S. has seized the Olina tanker in the Caribbean, the fifth vessel targeted in recent weeks as Washington steps up efforts to curb Venezuelan oil exports, U.S. officials said on Friday.The Olina, which according to public shipping database Equasis was falsely flying the flag of Timor Leste, previously sailed from Venezuela and had returned to the region, said an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter.In a pre-dawn move, marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear, launched from the carrier USS Gerald R.

Panama's maritime authority on Thursday said it had canceled in January of last year the flag of the M Sophia, a Venezuela-linked oil tanker seized by the U.S. military this week.The U.S. military's Southern Command on Wednesday said it had intercepted the M Sophia before dawn, and described it as a "stateless, sanctioned dark fleet motor tanker." Panamanian authorities canceled the supertanker's flag on January 23, 2025, the AMP authority said in a statement.The maritime authority also said the Bella-1, a Russian-flagged tanker the U.S.

The U.S. seized a Russian-flagged oil tanker that was being shadowed by a Russian submarine on Wednesday, after pursuing it for more than two weeks across the Atlantic as part of Washington's efforts to block Venezuelan oil exports, U.S. officials said.It appeared to be the first time in recent memory that the U.S. military has seized a Russian-flagged vessel.The Marinera, originally known as the Bella-1, had previously slipped through a U.S. maritime blockade of sanctioned tankers in the Caribbean and rebuffed U.S. Coast Guard efforts to board it.

The U.S. seized an empty Russian-flagged, Venezuela-linked oil tanker in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday as part of President Donald Trump's aggressive push to dictate oil flows in the Americas and force Venezuela's socialist government to become an ally.After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in an attack on Caracas on Saturday, the U.S. is continuing to blockade vessels under sanctions off the South American country, a member of the OPEC oil group. The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S.

The United States is attempting to seize a Russian-flagged oil tanker with links to Venezuela after a more than two-week-long pursuit across the Atlantic and as a Russian submarine and warship were close by, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.The seizure, which could stoke tensions with Russia, came after the tanker, originally known as the Bella-1, slipped through a U.S. maritime "blockade" of sanctioned tankers and rebuffed U.S. Coast Guard efforts to board it.The officials…

Venezuelan and U.S. officials are discussing exporting Venezuelan crude to refiners in the United States, five government, industry and shipping sources told Reuters on Tuesday.Venezuela has millions of barrels of oil loaded on tankers and in storage tanks that it has been unable to ship due to a blockade on exports imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump since mid-December. The blockade was part of rising U.S. pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that culminated in U.S.

An oil tanker chartered by U.S. Chevron carrying some 300,000 barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude bound for the U.S. Gulf Coast departed on Monday from the OPEC country's waters, shipping data showed, after a four-day pause in the company's exports of Venezuelan oil.Chevron is the only company currently authorized by Washington to export Venezuelan crude amid an oil embargo that U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday remained in full force after the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.But amid U.S.

About a dozen tankers loaded with Venezuelan crude oil and fuel have left the country's waters in dark mode since the start of the year, according to documents seen by Reuters and industry sources including monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.The movements suggest a potential breaking of a strict blockade imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump before the dramatic capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. troops in the early hours of Saturday morning. Trump said…