Peak Oil in South & Central America
(1) Pre-Covid
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Fig 1: Oil production and peak years
Production peaked 2015 due to Venezuela’s production collapse. Brazil’s production has not yet peaked but is unlikely to offset Venezuela’s decline. All other countries together are on a bumpy production plateau for the last 20 years.
Fig 2: Oil consumption peaked 2014
Production vs. consumption
Sorted by net exports (difference between production and consumption)
Fig 3: Venezuela last peak was in 2006, since then net exports are down to 560 kb/d
The US imposed sanctions on Venezuela since 2006 but the oil sector was most hit by E.O. 13808 (Aug 2017) and 13850 (Jan 2019) in which PdVSA properties under US jurisdiction were blocked and transactions prohibited. https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/IF10715.pdf
Fig 4: Venezuela’s oil passing through the Indian Ocean?
7 months after leaving the JOSE terminal in Venezuela, crude oil tanker SAINT MARCELLA appeared at anchorage outside PORT LOUIS Mauritius, for servicing/rebunkering by TRESTA STAR. The destination shown by Vesselfinder was S.LINGGI in Malaysia (Straits of Malacca)
This Reuters article reports:
27 Nov 2020
Exclusive: Venezuela resumes direct oil shipments to China despite U.S. sanctions
Venezuela has resumed direct shipments of oil to China after U.S. sanctions sent the trade underground for more than a year, according to Refinitiv Eikon vessel-tracking data and internal documents from state company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).
Chinese state companies China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and its listed subsidiary PetroChina – long among PDVSA’s top customers – stopped loading crude and fuel at Venezuelan ports in August 2019 after Washington extended its sanctions on PDVSA to include any companies trading with the Venezuelan state firm.
The imposition of the sanctions was part of a push by the Trump administration to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, but they failed to completely halt the South American nation’s oil exports or to loosen Maduro’s grip on power.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
