Venezuela's crude oil exports, which had fallen to the lowest level under the U.S. government's "tanker blockade order," appear to be effectively paralyzed.
On the 3rd, Reuters cited four local sources and reported that crude oil exports were effectively completely paralyzed as port authorities had not received departure clearance requests from tankers that had finished loading crude. Earlier that day, President Trump said at a news conference that a "petroleum embargo" against Venezuela was being fully enforced.
According to ship-tracking data, several tankers that loaded crude and fuel for destinations such as the United States and Asia have not yet departed, and other tankers waiting to load left the port empty.
In particular, even Chevron's tankers, which had exceptionally operated under a U.S. government license, were confirmed to have stopped moving since last week. TankerTrackers, a tanker-tracking firm, said that as of the 3rd there was not a single tanker loading at Jose port, Venezuela's largest crude terminal.
With storage tanks and even floating storage vessels rapidly reaching saturation over the past few weeks, state-run oil company PDVSA has ultimately begun to cut output. Reuters, citing sources, reported that PDVSA asked joint ventures such as Chevron's Petropiar and Petroboscan to reduce production.
In the case of Sinovensa, a joint venture with China's CNPC, it is preparing to shut down up to 10 clusters at PDVSA's request. Volumes that were typically delivered to China for debt repayment have also been left without a destination as Chinese-flagged tankers stopped approaching.