Key Points
— Venezuela exported 1.09 million barrels per day of crude and fuel in March 2026 — up 48% from February’s 737,000 bpd — the highest monthly figure since before the US reimposed severe sanctions in late 2025
— Trading houses Vitol and Trafigura handle the majority of sales under a January deal between Caracas and Washington, while Chevron increased its exports to 267,000 bpd from 209,000 bpd in February
— The export surge follows the US lifting sanctions on interim President Delcy Rodríguez and passing an investment law opening Venezuela’s oil reserves to private capital — a seismic shift from the Maduro era
Three months after the US captured Nicolás Maduro in a military operation and installed Delcy Rodríguez as interim president, Venezuela’s oil sector is producing the first tangible results of the new arrangement.
Venezuela oil exports surpassed 1 million barrels per day in March for the first time since September, according to vessel tracking data cited by Reuters. Sixty tankers departed Venezuelan ports carrying 1.09 million bpd of crude and fuel, plus approximately 360,000 metric tonnes of petrochemicals and petroleum byproducts. The increase was driven by shipments to Indian refineries and by trading houses moving cargoes to Caribbean storage facilities.
The Deal Behind the Numbers
The export recovery traces directly to a January agreement between Caracas and Washington, reached after the US captured Maduro on January 3 and Rodríguez assumed the presidency. Under the deal, Venezuelan crude and fuel flow to the US and other destinations under American supervision, with Swiss-based Vitol and Trafigura handling the majority of commercial operations. Chevron, which maintained a limited presence in Venezuela throughout the sanctions era, has expanded its exports to 267,000 bpd in March from 209,000 bpd in February.
The trading firms accounted for approximately 635,000 bpd of the March total. Rising domestic production has been the primary driver, while the three companies also work to drain inventories that accumulated during the severe US blockade imposed between December 2025 and January 2026. The arrival of larger tankers at Venezuela’s principal export terminal at Jose — including vessels capable of loading cargoes for India — has helped accelerate loading operations.
The Political Transformation
The oil numbers are inseparable from the political upheaval. On January 3, US special forces captured Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in a nighttime operation at Fort Tiuna in Caracas. Both face narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges in a Manhattan federal court and have pleaded not guilty. Rodríguez, Maduro‘s vice president and oil minister, was sworn in as interim president on January 5 after the Supreme Court ruled Maduro was in “material and temporary impossibility” to govern.
Since taking office, Rodríguez has moved rapidly to open the economy. She signed legislation in January opening Venezuela’s oil reserves to private investment — a reversal of decades of resource nationalism. A similar mining sector bill passed its initial vote in March. On Wednesday, the US Treasury removed Rodríguez from its Specially Designated Nationals sanctions list, further normalizing the bilateral relationship. President Trump has described Venezuela as a model for the regime change he envisions in Iran and Cuba.
Where Venezuela Fits Among LATAM Oil Producers
At 1.09 million bpd of exports, Venezuela is re-entering the ranks of Latin America’s significant oil producers — but it remains far below its peak. The country exported over 2.5 million bpd before the Chávez-era nationalization and PDVSA’s subsequent decline. Brazil leads the region with exports of roughly 1.5 million bpd. Argentina’s Vaca Muerta is producing over 840,000 bpd with export infrastructure coming online in late 2026. Mexico and Colombia round out the major producers, though both face declining output trajectories.
Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves at approximately 303 billion barrels — but decades of underinvestment, sanctions, and mismanagement have left PDVSA’s infrastructure in severe disrepair. Trump told reporters in January that he planned to send “very large United States oil companies” to “fix the badly broken infrastructure” and “start making money for the country.” Whether that materializes — and on what terms — will determine if Venezuela’s export recovery is a one-time bounce or the start of a structural transformation.
For global oil markets already strained by the Iran-Hormuz disruption, the return of Venezuelan barrels provides partial relief. But the political arrangement underpinning it — a US-supervised interim government with no election timeline, an imprisoned former president, and an opposition sidelined by Washington — makes the supply outlook as much a geopolitical variable as an economic one. The oil is flowing. The question is for how long, and under whose rules.