- Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) increased its imports of Venezuelan crude this year ahead of U.S. sanctions and as other customers received less of the country’s exports, according to a Reuters analysis.
- While Venezuelan crude oil exports averaged 1.19M bbl/day in the January-April period, down 28% Y/Y, VLO reportedly received more than 200K bbl/day of Venezuelan crude from state-run oil company PDVSA and its joint ventures in March and April, the largest monthly volumes since December 2016.
- At the same time, purchases by PDVSA’s other large U.S. customers, including Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) and PBF Energy (NYSE:PBF), continued to fall on a Y/Y basis.
- In April, VLO received 13 cargoes of Venezuelan crude for its U.S. Gulf refineries compared with nine cargoes imported by PDVSA's own U.S. refining unit Citgo Petroleum, according to the report.