US allows China to purchase Venezuelan oil but not at ‘undercut’ prices of Maduro days, official says
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) – The Trump administration is allowing China to buy Venezuelan oil, but not at the “unfair, low” prices at which Caracas sold crude before deposing U.S. President Nicolas Maduro. the official said on Thursday.
The administration official said on condition of anonymity that the oil will be sold on the global market, but the administration has requested that the majority be sold to the United States. The United States announced that it would control Venezuela’s oil sales indefinitely after capturing Maduro on January 3.
“Thanks to President (Donald) Trump’s determined and successful law enforcement operation, the Venezuelan people will receive a fair price for their oil rather than a corrupt, cheap price from China and other countries,” the official said.
China has been Venezuela’s biggest oil buyer for years, and the sales have helped Caracas repay large loans to Beijing in oil-for-loan deals.
The official said the administration allowed China to buy the oil “at fair market prices — not the unfair, low prices” that Maduro sold to China to pay off his debts.
U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said last week that the United States was getting about $45 a barrel for Venezuelan oil, compared to the roughly $31 Venezuela was getting before Maduro’s capture.
Trading companies Trafigura and Vitol sold nearly 11 million barrels of oil in the first supply deal of crude oil stranded between Venezuela and the United States; this represents about a quarter of the $2 billion deal.
Trafigura has completed its first crude sale to a customer under an agreement with Spanish company Repsol, while Vitol is negotiating cargo to US refiners, including Valero and Phillips 66, and its refinery in Italy, sources said.
China’s oil imports from Venezuela are expected to fall from February as fewer tankers manage to leave the country after the United States took control of the OPEC producer’s sales, traders and analysts said last week.
(Reporting by Timothy Gardner in Washington; Additional reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Andrea Ricci)
