Venezuela’s ageing oil port infrastructure is limiting the country’s ability to increase crude exports, with tankers waiting up to 30 days to load because of equipment failures, power outages, slow transfers and crude quality issues, according to shipping data, sources and documents cited by Reuters.
Despite rising production, stock drawdowns and strong global demand, Venezuela and its partners have been unable to push exports above about 1.25 million barrels per day in recent months. The Jose terminal, which handles around 70% of the country’s exports, has experienced repeated loading disruptions, while dozens of tankers are waiting at anchorages.
The delays have also triggered disputes over demurrage, crude quality and contamination.
The infrastructure constraints are complicating U.S. efforts to rapidly expand Venezuelan oil exports following an agreement allowing traders including Vitol and Trafigura to ship more than 140 million barrels of crude and fuel this year.
Washington is also promoting a $100 billion energy reconstruction plan focused mainly on increasing production, while terminal and refinery repairs have received less attention, Reuters notes.
Competition for limited port capacity is expected to intensify as new energy contracts give more partners of state oil company PDVSA greater autonomy to market their production.
However, PDVSA continues to control its terminals and cargo scheduling. The company has acknowledged infrastructure deficiencies and said reliability needs to improve as Venezuela seeks to expand exports.