Venezuela faces hurdles clearing 24 mln barrels oil export backlog - Reuters data

According to the latest Reuters data, Venezuela is lagging by nearly a month in shipping crude to customers from its main oil export port, in the wake of falling output levels amid the financial and economic crisis.

The delay could breach Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA’s crude supply contracts if they are not quickly cleared.

Key data via Reuters:

“Tankers waiting to load more than 24 million barrels of crude, almost as much as PDVSA shipped in April, are sitting off the country’s main oil port.

The backlog is so severe, the company has told some customers it may declare force majeure, allowing it to temporarily halt contracts if they do not accept new delivery terms.

As of June 6, more than 80 tankers were waiting in Venezuelan waters, half of them to load crude and refined products for exports.

In April, PDVSA shipped 1.49 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude and fuels to its customers, 665,000 bpd below the 2.15 million contracted.

Customers waiting for cargoes with tankers already at sea include U.S.-based Chevron Corp and Valero Energy, India’s Nayara Energy and China’s CNPC and its trading unit PetroChina.”