Venezuela's shipments of crude oil and fuel dropped by 11.5 per cent in March compared to the previous month, as secondary tariffs imposed by Washington and the revocation of essential licenses to function in the U.S.-sanctioned energy industry resulted in delays and halts in cargo, based on ship tracking information and documents. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump's administration declared a 25 per cent tariff on countries purchasing Venezuelan crude and gas, set to take effect this week, and informed foreign partners of state-owned oil firm PDVSA that it would rescind the permissions previously granted for operations and exports from the OPEC nation. The actions came after the revocation of a vital permit for U.S. Chevron to extract oil in Venezuela and sell it to the United States, which was the second biggest market for Venezuela's crude oil last year. The Treasury Department established May 27 as the cutoff for the firms to cease operations and exports.
Venezuela oil exports decline sharply
Consistent purchasers of Venezuelan crude in China and India have halted several shipments scheduled for late March and April after the announcements. According to data and internal PDVSA documents, a total of 42 ships left Venezuelan waters in March, transporting 804,677 barrels per day of crude and fuel, along with 341,000 metric tons of petrochemicals and oil byproducts. The average for March was 7.8 per cent lower than exports during the same month in 2024 and marked the lowest point since December. In March, China remained the top importer of Venezuelan crude at 483,700 bpd, trailed by the U.S. at 210,700 bpd, India at 60,160 bpd, and Cuba at 50,130 bpd. Last month, Europe received no crude oil exports. Nonetheless, certain European associates of PDVSA are planning and loading what may be their final shipments before the conclusion of the wind-down phase, the documents indicated.
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On Tuesday evening, Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez claimed in a Telegram post that the statistics released by Reuters were incorrect and that oil exports had increased by 8.78 per cent in March. She provided no proof for the number nor shared any specifics. The administration of President Nicolas Maduro has consistently opposed sanctions imposed by the United States and other nations, claiming these actions are illegitimate tactics that constitute an "economic war" aimed at undermining Venezuela. Since February, two ships have departed Venezuelan waters without taking on cargo as Trump's pressure on the South American nation has intensified, with Washington accusing Maduro's government of insufficient efforts to reduce illegal migration to the U.S. Other tankers lingered for weeks close to Venezuelan ports even after getting PDVSA's consent to load, as numerous clients and ship owners awaited the impact of Trump's administration on the secondary tariffs.
Over 80 ships were present in or around Venezuelan waters this week, with 35 loaded but yet to depart, based on satellite images examined by the monitoring service Tankertrackers.com. Experts have indicated that if maintained, the U.S. actions are likely to affect Venezuela's primary revenue source in the upcoming months, similar to what occurred in 2020 when the U.S. enacted secondary energy sanctions against the nation. However, the country could explore alternative methods to distribute its crude oil in Asia via third-party nations and maritime trans-shipments, a workaround that other sanctioned oil exporters and Venezuela have utilised in recent times.
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