Venezuela to export diluted crude after 9-month pause, document shows

A Panama-flagged supertanker has loaded about 1.9 million barrels of DCO bound for Malaysia, according to an internal PDVSA schedule report. Malaysia is sometimes used to trans-ship Venezuelan crude bound for China.

Venezuelan state-run oil firm PDVSA this week will resume exports of diluted crude oil (DCO) for the first time in nine months, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Since U.S. trade sanctions were imposed on PDVSA in 2019, a lack of diluents, especially heavy naphtha, has hurt its ability to produce exportable grades from its largest production region, the Orinoco Belt. Its extra heavy oil must be diluted with naphtha or condensate for transportation and exports.