The first two shipments of Venezuelan oil exported by Chevron Corp (CVX.N) since getting a renewed US license last month have left for the United States, according to vessel monitoring data released on Friday.
In late July, the US Treasury Department gave Chevron a new license to operate in the sanctioned South American country and export its crude, reversing the tougher regulations imposed earlier this year by the Trump administration.
Tankers Mediterranean Voyager and Canopus Voyager set sail
Chevron-chartered tankers Mediterranean Voyager and Canopus Voyager left Venezuelan waters on Friday, carrying Hamaca and Boscan heavy crudes, according to LSEG data and PDVSA export records.
According to the tracking data, one vessel is destined for the United States’ West Coast, while the other is en route to Port Arthur, Texas, with an estimated arrival date of next week.
US refiners eye Venezuelan grades
According to sources, Chevron is also in negotiations with Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) about restarting a supply arrangement that would assign a percentage of its Venezuelan crude cargoes to the US refiner.
Venezuelan heavy crude grades are highly coveted by US Gulf Coast refiners due to their compatibility with current processing equipment.
Compliance and gradual resumption
Chevron has emphasised that it operates globally following all applicable laws, regulations, and US sanctions frameworks. Earlier this month, CEO Mike Wirth stated that Venezuelan exports would restart in moderate numbers.
In the first quarter, Chevron exported around 252,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Venezuelan crude to the United States, accounting for almost 29% of the OPEC member’s total exports during that period.
Strategic and market implications
The renewed license is a significant move in US-Venezuela energy ties, as Washington alters its policy to allow a major US energy business to resume operations in Venezuela’s oil sector despite ongoing sanctions.
The decision might have commercial and geopolitical repercussions, allowing Venezuelan crude to return to US markets while also providing refiners with feedstocks suitable for their operations.
The departure of the Mediterranean Voyager and Canopus Voyager also represents a practical shift from policy to execution, with crude flows reflecting the licensing change within weeks of its issuing.
Background on sanctions and previous exports
PDVSA and its partners are hampered in their ability to sell crude abroad, limiting the nation’s main source of revenue, by US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry in recent years.
The Trump administration kept Chevron’s Venezuelan operations under tight strangle, maintaining US limitations on exports since earlier this year.
The license extension late last month reversed some of that position, allowing Chevron to extract and export oil from its assets in the country.
It has remained one of the few foreign operators to stay in Venezuela during sanctions.
Chevron was shipping Venezuelan crude to the US before the new authorisations, with early five-year-long averages topping more than a fourth of the nation’s exports.
Next steps in Chevron’s Venezuela strategy
If a deal happens, ongoing talks with Valero could make Venezuelan crude more deeply ingrained in US refining supply chains.
These arrangements could bolster Chevron’s capacity to market the cargoes it is entitled to and provide US refiners with much-needed heavy grades.
For the time being, the low-volume exports Wirth hinted at are coming through, with two separate grades, Hamaca and Boscan, already en route to separate US outlets.
The Venezuelan output loss and added barrels for US imports will largely depend on the volume and frequency of subsequent cargoes, and if Washington changes its licensing policies.
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