U.S. Blockade Threatens to Remove Most of Venezuela’s Export Revenue, Government Estimates Say

Venezuelan officials warned that the United States’ partial blockade of the country’s oil exports could eliminate the bulk of Venezuela’s export revenue this year and trigger a humanitarian crisis, according to internal government estimates compiled in December and described by people briefed on them.

The blockade, which the Trump administration intensified by targeting tankers bound for Asian markets, has paralyzed much of state oil company PDVSA’s exports. To keep wells pumping, PDVSA has been redirecting crude into storage tanks and using idled tankers as floating storage, a stopgap that TankerTrackers estimated could last only until the end of January.

The internal projections said national production could fall from about 1.2 million barrels per day late last year to less than 300,000 later this year if the blockade holds, sharply reducing the government’s ability to import goods and maintain basic services; the people who discussed the projections spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said tankers on a U.S. sanctions list will be blocked until Venezuela opens its state-controlled oil industry to foreign investment. Since Saturday, at least 16 sanctioned tankers appear to have attempted to evade the blockade by disguising their locations or turning off transmission signals; officials and industry contacts said successful breaches could buy Venezuela time, while a sustained blockade would risk greater collapse.

Key Topics

World, Venezuela, Pdvsa, U.s. Blockade, Chevron, Marco Rubio