- Venezuela and the US are holding talks to export crude oil to US refineries.
- The talks may lead to the redirection of oil shipments originally destined for China.
- Chevron currently controls the flow of Venezuelan crude oil to the United States.
Houston/Washington: Venezuela is in talks with the United States about exporting its crude oil to American refineries, a move that could mean fewer shipments to China.
Government officials in Caracas and Washington are discussing exporting Venezuelan crude to refineries in the United States, five government, industry and shipping sources said. Reuters on Tuesday, a deal that could divert supplies from China while helping state-owned PDVSA avoid further production cuts.
Venezuela has millions of barrels of oil loaded on tankers and storage tanks that it has not been able to ship due to the export blockade imposed by US President Donald Trump since mid-December.
The blockade was part of increasing US pressure on the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro that culminated in the capture of US forces this weekend.
A possible deal to sell trapped crude to the United States could initially require reallocating cargoes originally destined for China, two sources said. The Asian country has been Venezuela's main buyer in the last decade and especially since the United States imposed sanctions on companies involved in oil trade with Venezuela in 2020.
The supply would increase the volume of Venezuelan oil exported to the US, a flow that is currently entirely controlled by Chevron, PDVSA's main partner, under US authorization.
Chevron, which has been exporting between 100,000 and 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan oil to the US, has in recent weeks become the only company that smoothly loads and ships crude oil from the South American country amid the blockade.
PDVSA has already had to cut production due to the embargo, because it is running out of storage for oil. If PDVSA does not find a way to export oil soon, it would have to cut production further, one of the sources said.
The White House, Venezuelan government officials and PDVSA had no immediate comment. Venezuela's Oil Ministry has said the United States wants to steal the country's oil reserves and denounced Maduro's capture as a kidnapping.
US refineries on the Gulf Coast can process Venezuela's heavy crudes and were importing about 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) before Washington first imposed energy sanctions on Venezuela.
It was not immediately clear how PDVSA would obtain revenue from oil sales.
Officials have been in talks this week about possible sales mechanisms, including auctions to allow interested U.S. buyers to participate in cargo bids and the issuance of U.S. licenses to PDVSA's trading partners that could lead to supply contracts, two sources said.
The sides have also discussed whether Venezuelan crude can replenish the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve in the future, one of the sources said.
