(Reuters, Marianna Parraga, 28.Aug.2018) — Venezuela’s main oil port of Jose is operating partially following a weekend tanker collision that halted one of its three docks, curtailing state-run PDVSA’s ability to export upgraded crude and receive imported diluents, three sources with knowledge of the incident said on Tuesday.
PDVSA has been struggling this year to deliver exports on time to most customers due to falling oil output, legal actions by creditors aimed at seizing overseas assets and U.S. sanctions. In July, the country’s crude production fell to its lowest level in over 60 years.
Crude exports from Jose were running earlier this year at about 900,000 barrels per day (bpd), according to Thomson Reuters data. Some 60,000 bpd of naphtha imports, which is used to dilute Venezuela’s extraheavy crude for export, also are received at the terminal.
The collision shut the South dock, one of Jose Offshore Platform’s three oil berths – East, West and South – and two monobuoy systems, used to ship crude from the Orinoco Belt, Venezuela’s main producing region, and to discharge imported diluents. The South dock was refurbished in 2016.
“Jose’s East and West docks are totally busy. Each VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) takes up to five days to load. There is not extra capacity for discharging naphtha imports and more upgraded crude exports there,” one of the sources said.
PDVSA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
PDVSA’s upgraded crude, produced at four upgraders that convert Venezuela’s extraheavy oil into lighter grades, is mainly exported to the United States, a market that has seen a 26-percent decline in imports of Venezuelan crude this year, according to Thomson Reuters Trade Flows figures.
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