Oil shipments: Rise despite Opec
Venezuela ups US oil sales despite Opec
Venezuela increased oil shipments to the US in January, despite President Hugo Chavez's anti-US rhetoric and a promise to Opec to cut output, the US Department of Energy said.
Crude shipments from Venezuela to the US rose to an average 1.2 million barrels per day in January, up 14% from December, according to data from the department. Venezuela had promised to cut exports to the US by 16% starting 1 January to comply with Opec cuts.
But January's figures suggest the country is still sending about half its crude to the US, said an Associated Press report.
Venezuela may be sending more oil north to boost sagging state income, which has declined with lower crude prices, said Roger Tissot, an energy analyst at Gas Energy Latin America in Vernon, Canada.
Oil accounts for 93% of Venezuelan exports and finances nearly half the government's budget, but world crude prices have slipped 67% since their July peak.
A spokesman for PDVSA declined to comment on the US report.
Chavez has often vowed to diversify Venezuelan oil markets, slashing its reliance on the US and boosting exports to allies such as China. When Opec asked its 12 members to reduce output by a combined 4.2 million barrels per day in January, Venezuela agreed to a 364,000 barrels-a-day cut, 11% of total production, and vowed the bulk of those cuts would come from exports to the US
But tough times may now be stalling those plans, said Tissot, who suggested it would be easier for Venezuela to cut expensive, long-distance shipments to China, or discounted sales Latin American and Caribbean neighbors under Venezuela's Petrocaribe pact instead.
"The US is a prime market" that is nearby and pays full price, Tissot said.
Venezuela may also be ignoring its commitment to Opec, complying only partially with cuts to maintain its income, said David Kirsh, director of PFC Energy's Market Intelligence Service in Washington.
According to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, Venezuela has reduced output by just two-thirds of Opec's terms, pumping an average 2.1 million barrels per day in February.