The sanctions relaxation has meant previous illicit trade of oil is moving back into the formal sector, including to the United States, Nichols added. Since October, Venezuelan oil is being sold again by trading houses that used to be customers of state company PDVSA. But they are buying from little known intermediaries, according to documents and sources. PDVSA’s largest customers continue trying to restore direct trade. “(This is) good for us consumers because we’re getting oil and other products into our markets,” Nichols said.The release of wrongfully detained Americans is incredibly important to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Nichols said. Savoi Wright, a fourth U.S. citizen arrested, has been added to the list of those held unfairly. By Julia Symmes Cobb and Marianna Parraga. Full Text-> Reuters

Para asegurarse ganancias millonarias, United Petroleo Corp no necesitó de millonarias inversiones en campos petroleros, como suelen hacer las multinacionales, ni cotizar en la bolsa de valores, ni esperar un boom de precios del crudo en el mercado internacional. Su ascenso fue tan simple como meteórico: apenas se registró en Panamá en marzo de 2021 y, aunque se disolvió menos de dos años después, en noviembre de 2022, en ese breve periodo obtuvo de Pdvsa contratos para la comercialización de hidrocarburos por casi 500 millones de dólares. De ese monto proveniente de ventas de petróleo y derivados, a la postre quedó debiéndole más de 435 millones de dólares a la estatal. Por Roberto Deniz. Texto Completo -> Armando.info

More shipments of fuel oil, methanol and petroleum coke boosted Venezuela’s August oil exports to the second highest level this year, a recovery from weak volumes amid outages, documents and tanker tracking data showed on Friday. By Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa. Full Text -> NationalPost

Traducción de cortesía ->Más envíos de fuel oil, metanol y coque de petróleo impulsaron las exportaciones de petróleo de Venezuela en agosto al segundo nivel más alto de este año, una recuperación de los débiles volúmenes en medio de apagones, documentos y datos de seguimiento de petroleros mostraron el viernes.

Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA diverted two crude cargoes set to discharge at Cuba’s Matanzas terminal, Refinitiv Eikon data and company documents showed on Tuesday, as a fire that devastated 40% of the island’s main storage facility continued for a fifth day.  By Marianna Parraga. Full Text -> Reuters

Traducción de cortesía -> La petrolera estatal venezolana PDVSA desvió dos cargamentos de crudo que se descargarían en la terminal cubana de Matanzas, según mostraron el martes datos de Refinitiv Eikon y documentos de la compañía, mientras un incendio que devastó el 40% de la principal instalación de almacenamiento de la isla continuó por quinto día.

In his contribution to the Sectoral Debate in Gordon House Tuesday afternoon, Vaz said he took note of his Opposition counterpart’s comments that Jamaica should consider sourcing the commodity from the South American oil-rich country.  “I welcome the suggestion of my colleague and I can commit that we will have a discussion at length about the matter,” Vaz told Phillip Paulwell who shadows the energy portfolio . Full Text -> TheGleaner

Traducción de cortesías-> En su contribución al debate sectorial en Gordon House el martes por la tarde, Vaz dijo que tomó nota de los comentarios de su homólogo de la oposición de que Jamaica debería considerar obtener el producto del país sudamericano rico en petróleo. “Agradezco la sugerencia de mi colega y puedo comprometerme a que tendremos una discusión extensa sobre el asunto”, dijo Vaz a Phillip Paulwell, quien sigue la cartera de energía.

Traducción al español -> Google Translación

Franklin’s “Prohibiting Oil Trade with Venezuela’s Tyrant Act” has more than 20 Republican co-sponsors including Florida Republican U.S. Reps. Kat Cammack, Mario Diaz-Balart, Byron Donalds, Neal Dunn, Carlos Giménez, Brian Mast, John Rutherford, Maria Elvira Salazar, Greg Steube and Michael Waltz. “By engaging in talks with the Máduro regime, the Biden administration has again shown it is more interested in buying oil from ruthless dictatorships than supporting domestic production,” said Franklin. By By Kevin Derby. Full Text -> FloridaDaily

Traducción de cortesía -> La “Ley de Prohibición del Comercio de Petróleo con el Tirano de Venezuela” de Franklin tiene más de 20 copatrocinadores republicanos, incluidos los representantes republicanos de EE. UU. de Florida Kat Cammack, Mario Diaz-Balart, Byron Donalds, Neal Dunn, Carlos Giménez, Brian Mast, John Rutherford, Maria Elvira Salazar , Greg Steube y Michael Waltz. “Al entablar conversaciones con el régimen de Máduro, la administración Biden ha demostrado nuevamente que está más interesada en comprar petróleo de dictaduras despiadadas que en apoyar la producción nacional”, dijo Franklin.

Traducción al español -> Google Translación

Venezuela is Cuba’s largest oil supplier under a barter deal sealed by the late leaders of the two countries, Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro. The deal envisaged Cuba getting regular shipments of crude in exchange for its highly trained doctors and other professionals to work in Venezuela.The tightening of the U.S. sanctions against Maduro’s regime compounded Venezuela’s oil industry troubles, and Cuba became a collateral victim of reduced Venezuelan oil shipments. By Tsvetana Paraskova. Full Text -> OilPrice

Deprived of access to Venezuelan crude by U.S. sanctions on the regime of Nicolás Maduro, and facing reduced shipments from OPEC nations since the cartel cut output, U.S. refiners turned to Russian oil in 2020 to fill the gap. The buying spree, combined with sharply lower Saudi shipments, catapulted Russia into the position of third-largest oil supplier to the U.S. last year. By Javier Blas. Full Text -> Bloomberg

The API gravity for Venezuela’s crude oil ranges from around 25 degrees to as low as 8 degrees with sulfur content being between 1% and 2.8%, meaning they are particularly heavy and sour. That makes them unpopular refinery feedstock wherever stricter sulfur content regulations are being established. By Matthew Smith. Full Text -> OilPrice

Chinese refiners have massively boosted imports of diluted bitumen in a sign of either their desperation to produce fuel and asphalt for a rebounding economy, or that they’re skirting local import quotas and even international sanctions. Full Text-> BloombergQuint