CARACAS – Venezuela’s oil exports fell by approximately ten percent in July compared to the previous month. Key partners of state oil company PdVSA are still awaiting permission from the United States to expand their activities in the country. This emerges from shipping data and internal PdVSA documents reviewed by Reuters news agency.

Venezuela exported an average of 727,000 barrels of crude oil and refined products per day last month, compared to 807,000 barrels in June. Additionally, 227,000 tons of oil products and petrochemicals were shipped, a similar volume to the previous month.

Limited quantity

Chevron, the only Western oil company currently licensed to operate in Venezuela, resumed exports to the United States in August. According to CEO Mike Wirth, this involves a limited quantity of oil from the four joint oil projects with PdVSA. Together, these account for an estimated quarter of Venezuelan oil production.

The U.S. government granted a so-called specific license to Chevron in late July. This permit allows oil to be exported but prohibits payments to President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The license came about after negotiations between Washington and Caracas, which included the return of 252 deported migrants to El Salvador.

Chevron’s resumption of activities follows an earlier ban from April, when PdVSA canceled planned shipments due to payment problems. These problems were related to sanctions imposed since 2017 by successive U.S. administrations, designed to limit Venezuela’s oil revenues.

The new arrangement would allow tax and royalty payments to Venezuela, but not in cash. Instead, these would be made in kind, for example through crude oil or oil products. Chevron provides diluents for heavy crude oil in return. Sources confirm that negotiations on this are still ongoing.

China

Despite the sanctions, China remains the main market: approximately 95 percent of Venezuelan oil was shipped directly or through intermediaries to Chinese customers in July. Political ally Cuba received 31,000 barrels per day of crude oil, gasoline, and jet fuel.

The U.S. decision to allow Chevron led to criticism in Congress, where some members fear growing Chinese influence in Latin America. Other companies such as Spain’s Repsol and Italy’s Eni are still awaiting similar permission to resume their activities in Venezuela.

While U.S. officials emphasize that the Venezuelan state receives no direct revenue from the Chevron agreement, the reaction in Caracas is different. Minister Diosdado Cabello states that Chevron cannot extract oil for free and calls the agreement confidential.

Meanwhile, Venezuela’s economic situation continues to deteriorate. The national currency, the bolívar, has declined by more than 240 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past year. Venezuela’s Central Bank has not published official inflation figures since October 2024.