Chevron’s Venezuelan oil cargoes stalled at sea after export cancellations
HOUSTON — At least two vessels carrying Venezuelan crude chartered by Chevron are now stalled in Venezuelan waters due to state oil company PDVSA canceling their export authorizations after the US imposed secondary tariffs on the OPEC member’s buyers, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
The US oil producer awaits customs paperwork to return the cargoes to ports after PDVSA on Thursday canceled set-sail authorizations to two of the Chevron-chartered vessels that had finished loading.
The agency also suspended loading permits to four other tankers, the sources said.
Under an individual license to operate in US-sanctioned Venezuela, Chevron was authorized by the US Treasury Department in March to ship Venezuelan crude cargoes to the United States until late May before suspending operations and exports.
But PDVSA’s orders might cut the deadline short.
As of Friday, the Chevron-chartered vessels Dubai Attraction and Carina Voyager remained loaded in Venezuelan waters waiting for paperwork for the cargoes’ return, according to the sources and LSEG shipping data.
The cargoes had been declared as exports to Venezuela’s customs authority, so Chevron must now obtain authorization for their return as instructed by PDVSA, the sources said.
Carina Voyager was bound for Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery in Mississippi, while Dubai Attraction was scheduled to transfer its cargo to a Valero Energy-chartered vessel off Aruba, according to the data and sources.
Four other vessels scheduled to load this month, the Pegasus Star, Ionic Anax, Calypso and Sea Jaguar, had their loading windows suspended, the sources added.
Chevron and PDVSA did not reply to requests for comment. Valero did not immediately respond to a comment request.
It was not immediately clear if the cargoes would be rescheduled by PDVSA.
Exporter to US
Chevron, whose joint ventures with PDVSA produce about a quarter of the country’s oil output, exported some 250,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude to the US in the first quarter under its license, granted in 2022.
That license and others to European and Asian companies in Venezuela were canceled by US President Donald Trump’s administration last month as Washington accused President Nicolas Maduro of not doing enough to curb illegal migration to the US and restore democracy in Venezuela.
Maduro’s government rejects the U.S. sanctions on the country’s oil industry, in effect since 2019, saying they amount to an “economic war.”
