A bus passes in front of a gas station with the logo of Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, in Caracas, Venezuela May 14, 2025. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria
Dec 15 (Reuters) - Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has been subject to a cyberattack, it said on Monday, adding its operations were unaffected, even though four sources said systems remained down andoil cargo deliveries weresuspended.
Tensions are high between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments, amid a large-scale U.S. military buildup in the southern Caribbean, U.S. strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats and comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that land operations may begin soon in Venezuela.
The Venezuelan government has said the U.S. is seeking regime change to take over the country's vast oil reserves. Last week the U.S. Coast Guard seized a very large crude carrier (VLCC) carrying some 1.85 million barrels of Venezuelan heavy oil sold by PDVSA.
PDVSA and the oil ministry blamed the U.S. for the cyberattack on Monday, saying it was carried out by "foreign interests in complicity with domestic entities who are seeking to destroy the country's right to sovereign energy development."
They allegedthe attack was part of U.S. efforts to control Venezuela's oil through "force and piracy."
However, a PDVSA source said the company had detected a ransomware attack days ago, and the antivirus software it used to try to fix the problem affected its entire administrative system.
In a ransomware attack, malicious software encrypts a victim's files or locks its computer, with attackers sometimes also stealing data and threatening to leak it. These cyberattacks happen via phishing, malicious downloads or infected websites and can cause severe disruptions.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
PDVSA provided no further details, although the company said it had recovered from the attack. Venezuela's government regularly blames problems like blackouts on conspirators from the opposition and foreign entities like the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, without giving evidence.
Sources said the effects were ongoing.
"There's no delivery (of cargoes), all systems are down," one company source said.
A shipper involved in Venezuelan oil deals confirmed that all loading instructions for the export market remained suspended.
Oil output, refining and domestic distribution were not affected, the sources said, but the company on Monday failed to restart administrative systems, forcing workers to keep written records of operations.
Two other sources said PDVSA ordered administrative and operational workers to disconnect from the company's systems and to limit access of indirect workers to the company's facilities.
TANKERS TURN AROUND
Last week's VLCC seizure was the first interception of a tanker or cargo coming from Venezuela, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019, and a sign of growing pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.
The seizure has already led to a sharp fall in Venezuelan oil exports, also hitting crisis-stricken Cuba, which is facing daily power cuts.
More than 11 million barrels of oil are stuck on board other vessels in Venezuelan waters since last week. Among the few tankers setting sail are the ones chartered by oil firm Chevron, one of PDVSA's key partners, which continue departing to the U.S. under an authorization previously granted by Washington, according to shipping data.
At least one crude tanker per day bound for Asia has been able to set sail since last week from Venezuelan waters in "dark mode," which means it navigates with all its localization systems off, the PDVSA source said.
But a tanker carrying Russian naphtha for PDVSA and at least four supertankers due to pick up crude cargoes in Venezuela have made u-turns, ship monitoring data showed on Monday.
Benin-flagged tanker Boltaris, which was carrying some 300,000 barrels of Russian naphtha bound for Venezuela, made a u-turn late last week and is now heading for Europe without having discharged, according to LSEG vessel monitoring data.
At least four VLCCs that were in PDVSA's schedules to load crude at Venezuelan ports in the coming weeks have also made u-turns in recent days, monitoring service TankerTrackers.com said.
Venezuela's crude output averaged 1.17 million barrels per day last month according to official figures, while oil exports rose to some 952,000 bpd, according to shipping data.
(Reporting by Reuters; additional reporting by Arathy Somasekhar. Editing by Julia Symmes Cobb, Nathan Crooks and Nia Williams)
