MOSCOW (MRC) -- Venezuela's oil exports last month surpassed 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) as supplies of imported diluents boosted production and shipments, reported Reuters with reference to documents from state-run firm PDVSA and Refinitiv Eikon tracking data.
The OPEC-member country's largest oil producing region has regained its output and blending capacity in recent weeks after Iran, one of the nation's most important allies, began regularly supplying condensate for diluting the Orinoco Belt's extra heavy oil. Iranian supplies are lessening the impact of US sanctions on the nation's output.
In October, PDVSA and its joint ventures shipped 30 cargos of crude and refined products, mostly to Asia, including a 2-MM-bbl cargo of Merey heavy crude to pay back Iran for the condensate received.
The second cargo of Iranian condensate from the swap agreement is expected to finish discharging from the tanker Dorena at PDVSA's Jose port this month, according to the documents.
Venezuela's exports averaged 711,193 bpd in October, the third highest average so far this yr and a 76% increase from September, when an acute lack of diluents forced PDVSA to cut back output and blending. Larger shipments of residual fuel oil, methanol and petroleum coke also contributed to the exports increase last month, according to the documents and data.
Venezuela's oil exports, which along with Iran's are under US sanctions designed to limit sales, have stabilized this year at around 633,000 bpd, a slight increase from the 626,000 bpd of 2020 but still a large decline from previous years when PDVSA had not been blacklisted by the US Treasury Department. Venezuela also shipped 66,000 bpd of crude and refined products to Cuba, the data showed.
As MRC informed before, in June 2021, Venezuela's political opposition has replaced members of the boards overseeing Citgo Petroleum Corp as factions in the movement led by Juan Guaido try to gain greater influence over Houston-based oil refiner. Citgo split from Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA in 2019 after the US imposed sanctions intended to oust Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro. Then congress chief Juan Guaido appointed new boards and won US court recognition of their authority over the refining subsidiary.
We remind that in September 2020, Citgo Petroleum Corp said it did not plan to idle its 418,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Lake Charles, Louisiana, refinery damaged by Hurricane Laura. Rumors have circulated since Laura’s passage over the Lake Charles area on Aug. 27 that Citgo was considering shutting the refinery for an indefinite period because of the extent of the damage and continuing low demand for motor fuels in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,638,370 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 10% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 989,570 tonnes in the first eight months of 2021, up by 30% year on year. Deliveries of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas shipments of injection moulding PP random copolymers decreased significantly.
MRC