HOUSTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) – U.S. oil refiners who were once regular buyers of Venezuelan crude are trying to gain access to upcoming shipments chartered by Chevron Corp (CVX.N) under a new U.S. license, have said two people familiar with the matter. .
Last week, the Biden administration allowed Chevron to expand operations in Venezuela and resume heavy crude shipments to the United States. It was the first relaxation in more than three years of a US ban on imports from the South American nation. Further easing could follow if Caracas and opposition leaders agree on terms for a presidential election, Washington said.
Valero Energy Corp
Valero, PBF and PDVSA did not respond to requests for comment. A Chevron spokesperson said it does not comment on trade matters. A Citgo spokesperson declined to comment.
Venezuelan heavy crude grades, popular among U.S. refiners for producing products ranging from asphalt to fuels, had been partially replaced by Russian supplies following the Venezuela sanctions.
Some of those companies this week began contacting Chevron, shipping agencies and ship owners to verify schedules, the sources added. No Venezuelan oil has yet been officially awarded to Chevron and no charter contracts have been signed to transport cargo to the United States, according to Venezuelan export schedules and freight data from Refinitiv.
EXPECTED REFINERS
The most recent charter contracts to transport Venezuelan oil to the US Gulf Coast date from late 2018, just before the sanctions, according to Refinitiv data.
Valero, PBF and other independent U.S. refiners would not need any new authorization to buy Venezuelan oil from Chevron. But Citgo, owned by Venezuelan PDVSA, may need permission from the US Treasury Department because it operates under license, analysts and experts said.
Chevron could prioritize its own refineries, particularly Pascagoula, Mississippi, and El Segundo, Calif., which regularly received oil from Venezuela in the past.
On Thursday, Chevron CEO Michael Wirth said the company is unlikely to add investments to boost Venezuelan production over the next six months because the sanctions framework will take time to ease. The main effect will be to allow some Venezuelan oil to return to the United States, “which will help the American refining system,” Wirth said.
A full lifting of sanctions is unlikely in the near term, analysts said, but Venezuela’s former customers, business partners and creditors are taking steps to collect outstanding debts following Chevron’s clearance. Washington has not signaled that it will allow other companies to collect those debts.
ROAD TO EXPORTS
Because spring and summer in the United States are the busiest seasons for paving and peak driving, Venezuela’s Boscan heavy crude produced by Chevron and PDVSA on their Petroboscan project could be the first to be exported.
To restart these shipments, dredging of the Lake Maracaibo shipping channel may be necessary to allow Panamax and Aframax tankers to reach oil terminals in western Venezuela, maritime sources said.
A glut of stockpiled Boscan crude earlier this year forced a total shutdown of its processing. Depleting those stocks must come first to restart production, PDVSA documents showed.
There are separate stocks of Hamaca Oil and Diluted Crude Oil for immediate export to the largest terminal in the country. But as of Nov. 29, there were only 1.47 million barrels available, enough for just two shipments, according to PDVSA documents.
Petropiar’s crude oil upgrader, operated by PDVSA and Chevron, was shut down last week due to a naphtha leak. It restarted a few days later to produce about 100,000 barrels per day from Hamaca.
In November, PDVSA sent 1.2 million barrels of Hamaca to its refineries for processing. About 1 million barrels of fuel oil were also shipped from Petropiar to Iranian state-owned Naftiran Intertrade Co LTD (NICO) as part of an oil swap, the documents show.
Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Lisa Shumaker
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