Venezuela's crude and product exports slumped in October from September and from October last year due to lower oil production, Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing ship-tracking data and export figures of state oil firm PDVSA.
Venezuela's exports of crude oil and products averaged 533,968 barrels per day (bpd) last month, PDVSA and Refinitiv Eikon vessel-tracking data showed. The exports in October were 25% lower than in September and 23% lower than the volumes exported in October last year.
Lower production was the main reason for the lower exports. Most of the oil cargoes that departed from Venezuela in October were headed to Asia, mostly Malaysia and China, via intermediaries, according to the data cited by Reuters.
Petrochemical and oil by-product exports, however, rose, partly offsetting the low crude and product exports.
October saw the fourth-lowest monthly exports of oil from Venezuela, which has been grappling with U.S. sanctions on its exports, a lack of investment in aging infrastructure, and foreign oil firms backing out of the sector in the country holding the world's largest oil reserves.
Venezuela's crude oil production dropped in September compared to August, according to the latest Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) by OPEC. According to OPEC's secondary sources, Venezuela's crude output fell by 19,000 bpd from August to 659,000 bpd in September. Venezuela's self-reported figures to OPEC showed a decline of 57,000 bpd to 666,000 bpd.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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Tsvetana is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing for news outlets such as iNVEZZ and SeeNews. More