Reuters | The Venezuelan oil company PDVSA will produce, refine and export raw that Chevron was previously handled

The Venezuelan PDVSA has developed three operational scenarios as part of a plan to continue producing and export heavy oil in the largest project that has a Chevron, after a license granted to the US company expires next month, according to a document of the state company that Reuters had access on Monday.

Reuters

This month, the government of US President Donald Trump gave Chevron 30 days, until the beginning of April, to liquidate all the oil operations and exports of Venezuela that are currently addressed to the United States under a license granted in 2022.

Chevron operates in the South American country through mixed companies in which PDVSA is the largest shareholder, being the Petropiar project, in the Orinoco belt, the most important.

The Venezuelan oil company plans to produce between 105,000 and 138,000 barrels per day (BPD) of heavy crude hammock, once the Chevron license expires, in line with the production levels of recent months, according to the document.

A part of crude oil production, which varies according to the scenario, will be sent to national refineries, along with some by -products such as vacuum diesel, while another part plans to be exported to markets other than the United States, according to the document.

Vacuum diesel allows PDVSA to produce low octane gasoline for national distribution.
To face the possible shortage of diluents necessary to sustain petropiar operations, PDVSA plans to recycle a greater proportion of imported gasoline, while providing the project with other diluents from its largest refining complex, Paraguaná.
According to the document, the dynamic tank movement would be minimized that currently allow Chevron to transport Venezuelan crude between national ports before exporting.

It is expected that some units of the Petropiar crude improver will be withdrawn from service to produce currents other than crude oil, in an arrangement similar to that which PDVSA adopted in 2020, when the Chevron license was restricted by the first Trump administration.

PDVSA’s objective with these changes is to maintain petropy production levels and avoid the need to stop the improver or close any of the oil fields operated by mixed companies, said a source close to the company’s operations.