Venezuela suspends oil exports to review contracts

The new head of Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA has decided to suspend most export contracts in order to review them. According to him, this decision will help to avoid payment defaults.

The heads of the company's divisions were notified by PDVSA's new Chief Executive Pedro Rafael Tellechea. The term of the suspension wasn’t clarified. 

The U.S. introduced sanctions against PDVSA in 2019. Since then, the company has exported oil through middlemen and, as a result, has faced some problems with payments.

The suspension of export contracts affected a number of little-known companies, which shipped PDVSA oil to Asian plants. However, these measures did not influence cargoes that were insured by the American oil company Chevron Corp and Cuba’s Cubametales.

At present, most berths at Jose port, Venezuela's main oil terminal, are now deserted. More than ten ships are awaiting further instructions. Transfers at other terminals have been suspended as well. Some clients also have received the company’s demand to pay in full before the cargo delivery.