Higher Freight Rates Cool Demand for Venezuela Oil in September

Venezuela’s oil exports declined to 1.08 million barrels per day (bpd) in September from 1.19 million bpd the previous month as traders pressed state-run PDVSA for price discounts to offset rising freight costs, shipping data showed on Thursday.

Global trading houses including Vitol and Trafigura began pushing for steeper discounts on Venezuelan crude last month as rising freight rates shrank their margins, which contributed to shipping delays and tanker re-routings.

Venezuela’s oil exports, which have been under Washington’s oversight since US forces captured then-president Nicolas Maduro in January, increased to the US last month with 629,000 bpd sent to that destination versus 553,000 bpd in August.

Shipments to India fell to 253,000 bpd from 297,000 bpd in August, while exports to Europe decreased to some 86,000 bpd from 260,000 bpd in that period, according to the data, based on tanker movements.

Exports of Venezuelan crude by US energy major Chevron, PDVSA’s largest joint venture partner, remained almost unchanged at 283,000 bpd in September, while the trading firms shipped some 637,000 bpd to several destinations, above the 597,000 bpd of August.