Venezuela exported 1.16 million barrels of crude oil daily last month, a slight decline from June’s 1.2 million barrels daily, on lower withdrawals from storage, Reuters has reported, noting that exports to the United States during that month increased.
July exports to Venezuela’s biggest oil destination averaged 786,000 barrels daily, which was the highest since early 2019, Reuters noted in its report. U.S. imports from Venezuela following Washington’s toppling of President Nicolas Maduro in January have been on a steady climb, from 284,000 barrels daily in the first month of the year.
Exports to other destinations, such as India and European countries, declined in July, from 277,000 barrels daily to 178,000 bpd for India, and from 99,000 bpd to 82,200 bpd for European importers.
Global exports, however, have been down as withdrawals from storage slow down, the publication also reported. Venezuelan exports of crude hit a peak of 1.24 million barrels daily in May. Since January, exports of Venezuelan oil have generated some $13 billion, held by the United States, which assumed de facto control of the country’s oil industry following Maduro’s capture.
Back in April, Energy Secretary Chris Wright put the export figure at 150 million barrels. Since then, this has only grown, and likely substantially. There is, however, controversy around the money from Venezuelan oil and who holds it, namely, the Trump administration, which has been quiet about what the money is being used for. The FT reported last month, citing economists, that there is little evidence of economic recovery in Venezuela itself, which was supposed to be the purpose of U.S. custody of the oil money.
“Trump’s invasion of Venezuela has been about oil, power and graft from the very beginning, with billions of dollars in Venezuelan oil revenue being controlled by the Trump administration without transparency or safeguards,” Congress Democrat Joaquin Castro told the FT, accusing the federal government of keeping legislators in the dark about Venezuelan oil money.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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