Venezuela Port Bottlenecks Cause 30-Day Tanker Waits

Venezuela's efforts to revive its oil industry are being severely hampered by crumbling port infrastructure, creating a de facto cap on exports that is undermining U.S. plans to quickly boost the country's crude output. According to shipping data and sources, tankers are waiting up to 30 days to load due to aging terminals, power outages, and crude quality problems, limiting exports to around 1.25 million barrels per day despite rising production.

The bottleneck is most acute at the Jose port complex on Venezuela's northeastern coast, which handles approximately 70% of all oil exports. Company reports and maritime documents detail repeated loading interruptions this year stemming from equipment malfunctions and power failures. At the nearby Guaraguao port, only two of seven docks were fully operational in mid-August, with some berth space occupied by obsolete sanctioned tankers that arrived years ago and never left. The competition for limited capacity has led to disputes over demurrage charges, with state oil company PDVSA reportedly agreeing to pay some of these delay surcharges in crude.

This infrastructure crisis complicates the broader strategy to revitalize Venezuela's...