Los chinese buyers They rejected offers of Venezuelan crude oil this week, while the United States blockade of the South American producer has restricted exports and driven prices up.
Venezuela’s Merey crude was offered at a discount of $13 a barrel to ICE’s Brent, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the information is not public.
That is compared to a discount up to 15 dollars does a month, before the United States campaign against sanctioned oil tankers.
Venezuelan oil shipments bound for China plummeted last month as the naval blockade intensified, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
China is the largest buyer of Venezuelan oil
Los sellers have raised offers of Merey due to disruptions in shipping, the people said.
China is the largest buyer of Venezuelan oil, and Merey is often used to make bitumen for paving roads in the Asian country. A weaker construction outlook and abundant crude supplies in the hands of refiners are providing a cushion, allowing buyers to stay on the sidelines and wait for deals at better prices.
There is also a growing buildup of sanctioned oil in floating storage that will protect the chinese buyers if US measures against Venezuela significantly reduce flows.
Nearly 82 million barrels, including Venezuelan oil, are in tankers off the coasts of China and Malaysia, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.
Trafigura will talk to the EU to buy Venezuelan crude again
Trafigura Group and other traders will hold talks this weekend with the U.S. government about how they can buy crude oil from Venezuela again and supply fuel to the country after the departure of President Nicolás Maduro, the company’s global oil chief said.
“It’s the issue that everyone in the oil industry is talking about,” Ben Luckock said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “I think everyone is analyzing what opportunities there may be in Venezuela.”
The removal of Maduro by President Donald Trump began what has been described as a “gold rush” to reestablish commercial ties with the Venezuelan oil industry.
The country has the largest crude oil reserves in the world, but its production has plummeted after decades of lack of investment, trade sanctions and growing economic isolation.
Transfiguration It is one of the largest oil marketers in the world, with an average volume of 6.6 million barrels per day.
The firm and other traders have historically done business with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, buying its crude and supplying refined products to the country.
