Venezuela’s oil exports fall in 2022 despite aid from Iran

Venezuela’s oil exports fell in 2022 due to deteriorating infrastructure, US sanctions and increasing competition in its preferred shipping markets, despite aid received from Iran, according to shipping data and documents.

Exports this year are expected to be boosted by easing by the United States of its sanctions regime by authorizing some partners of the state-owned PDVSA to resume receiving Venezuelan crude.

Iran expanded its role in Venezuela last year by sending supplies to boost exports and technicians to repair a refinery. But the poor state of the country’s ports, oil fields and refineries and stiff competition with Russia over crude supplies to China will continue to limit profits, experts said.

State-owned Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and its joint ventures exported some 616,540 barrels per day (bpd) of crude and refined products last year, a 2.5% drop from 2021 and slightly below 2020, according to a count by data and documents Reuters.

“Despite the increase in Iranian aid, the decline in net exports stems from a combination of stagnant production and increasing competition from Russian exports on the Chinese black market,” said Francisco Monaldi, a Latin American energy expert at the Institute. Baker from Rice University.

PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The OPEC member country boosted its exports of petroleum coke, methanol and other petroleum by-products, which helped offset some of the revenue loss. Shipments of these lower value products more than tripled to 4.36 million metric tons last year versus 2021.

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