The Biden administration has reimposed oil sanctions on Venezuela, hitting out at President Nicolás Maduro for failing to follow a greater democratic path for the South American nation.
American companies with investments in Venezuela have 45 days to wind down operations.
Last October, Washington issued a six-month general licence for transactions involving Venezuela’s oil and gas sector following an electoral roadmap agreement signed by Maduro and opposition politicians in Barbados. Since then, Maduro has not stuck to his promises for a free election.
Latest data from BRS shows Venezuelan oil has only risen by 100,000 barrels a day since October to 900,000 barrels per day, a far cry from the near 2.5m barrels per day which was being produced in 2015.
BRS data shows the shadow fleet of tankers will grow by 19 tankers with PDVSA, Venezuela’s state-run oil company, being sanctioned again, taking the total shadow fleet – dominated by Russia – to 776 units.
