Venezuela Is Running Out Of Oil Storage Space Amid Tanker Curbs

Venezuela may soon have to start closing some oil wells as it runs low on storage capacity following last week’s tanker seizure and US plans to block other sanctioned vessels.

The country’s main oil storage and tankers sitting at its terminals are quickly filling up and may be at maximum capacity in about 10 days, according to people familiar with the situation, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. If that happens, state-owned Petróleos de Venezuela SA, whose production is close to 1 million barrels a day, could be forced to shut-in wells.

Chevron Corp. is continuing production from its joint ventures with PDVSA “without disruption” and is in compliance with all applicable laws, the oil major said Wednesday. While the company uses non-sanctioned tankers to export crude to the US Gulf, it’s unclear what second-order effects could arise should PDVSA be forced to shut-in wells.

The growing strain reflects the Trump administration’s stepped-up campaign to choke off oil revenue from the regime of President Nicolás Maduro. US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a "total blockade" of all sanctioned tankers in and out of Venezuela and the designation of the regime as a foreign terrorist organization. Although the administration has yet to issue details or guidance on the two moves, shipping activity is already effectively frozen as market participants shy away to avoid the risk of seizure, the people said.

Chevron said in a statement it is in compliance with “sanctions frameworks provided for by the U.S. government. Any questions about the security situation in Venezuela should be directed to the appropriate authorities in the U.S. government.” 

Half of the company’s 200,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan production goes to PDVSA under its contract terms.

Chevron operates in the country under a license from the US Treasury that exempts it from oil sanctions under restricted conditions. 

PDVSA’s crude exports continue to operate normally, sailing with full insurance, technical support and operational guarantees, the company said in a statement.

The new constraints on shipping Venezuelan oil and importing diluent that PDVSA needs to produce and transport its extra-heavy crude mean that “storage could fill up really quickly,” said Schreiner Parker, partner and head of emerging markets at research firm Rystad Energy. Once that happens, “You could definitely see production volumes coming off really, really quickly.”

During Trump’s first term, “maximum pressure” sanctions caused Venezuela’s production to collapse to less than 500,000 barrels a day, Parker said. PDVSA recovered partly by swapping its crude for a type of diluent from Iran. “That’s not really an option this time with the US patrolling the Caribbean,” he said.

Tanker Backlog

At least three supertankers, vessels able to carry a combined 6 million barrels of oil, have already loaded but remain in Venezuelan waters, according to the people, satellite imagery and a shipping report compiled by Bloomberg. 

Venezuela relies heavily on a shadow fleet of so-called “ghost vessels” that turn off or spoof their transponder signals to conceal their location and sail undetected. The three vessels stuck in Venezuela are loaded with Venezuelan heavy oil valued at about $300 million, according to Bloomberg calculations.

The ghost ships Crag and Galaxy 3, which are operating under false names, loaded last week and remain in Venezuelan waters. Another supertanker, the Kelly, which turned off its transponder a week ago, finished loading in the past few days. A fourth ship, sailing under the alias Romana, is currently loading 1.9 million barrels of Venezuela’s flagship Merey 16 oil. 

Chevron has been able to load cargoes despite a recent cyberattack targeting PDVSA that the company said had disrupted its administrative work at the ports, but not its ability to produce or ship oil. 

Venezuela accounts for less than 1% of global oil production, limiting the impact of the current disruption on prices.