Venezuela's Oil Exports Reportedly Dropped 75% Compared To Prior Months Since Maduro's Capture

Venezuela's oil exports have dropped 75% compared to the months prior to the capture of authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro by U.S. forces, according to a new report.

The Wall Street Journal noted that all the oil that left the South American country over the next 10 days has gone to the United States or has been earmarked to be used in Venezuela's refineries for domestic use.

The development is largely impacting China and Cuba. The former was buying about 440,000 barrels a day at heavily discounted prices and now risks seeing a slowdown. Cuba, largely dependent on Venezuelan oil as it grapples with severe energy challenged, received cargoes smaller than 20,000 barrels a day.

Moreover, as the U.S. continues to seize sanctioned tankers part of the so-called shadow fleet carrying Venezuelan crude, oil that managed to leave the country and could be on its way to the country might not arrive either.

There are about 48 million barrels of oil outside Venezuelan waters that aren't bound for the U.S. Forces have so far seized six tankers and anticipated more action could come. At least some of the vessels have been taken to the U.S., although some can't reach port because they are in a state of decay. Two did anchor off Galveston Island, near Houston, where some oil companies have large operations.

One of them is Phillips 66, which has two fuel factories that can process Venezuelan crude, company CEO Mark Lashier told the WSJ. "Venezuela was producing three million barrels a day of heavy crude. We've got refineries designed for the long term to process that crude," he said. "We really believe that this is an opportunity for Venezuela to return back into the capitalist fold."

The Trump administration has been brokering sales of Venezuelan crude. A recent report showed that the first one went to Vitol, a global oil trading firm whose senior U.S.-based trader has been a major donor to Trump's re-election campaign.

John Addison, a senior trader at Vitol, was involved in securing a roughly $250 million deal for Venezuelan oil. Addison donated about $6 million to political action committees backing Trump's 2024 re-election effort, including $5 million to Maga Inc in October, according to OpenSecrets.

Addison also attended a White House meeting with Trump last week alongside Ben Marshall, head of Vitol's U.S. operations, making Vitol the only company represented by two senior executives at the talks, as The Financial Times reports.

At that meeting, Addison told Trump that Vitol would aim to secure the best possible price for Venezuelan crude, adding that Trump's "influence... over the Venezuelans will ensure that you get what you want," according to people briefed on the exchange. Vitol said Addison's political donations were made in a personal capacity.

The transaction marked the start of Trump's plan to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil following the capture of Maduro. The White House has said proceeds from the sales will be held in accounts controlled by Washington and that the U.S. intends to oversee Venezuela's oil industry "indefinitely."