Venezuela’s crude oil exports last month fell further, to a low of 359,000 bpd, Reuters reported , citing official data. The decline was the result of the expiry of a grace period given by Washington to trading companies to wind down their business with PDVSA. This business most recently took the form of oil-for-fuel swaps, which were until now allowed under the U.S. sanction regime for humanitarian purposes. As traders stopped taking in Venezuela crude, PDVSA saw its inventories swell. Last week, inventories at the port of Jose—Venezuela’s main oil export hub— reached 11.8 million barrels, the highest since August. This meant, according to Reuters calculations, that the company had about 3 million barrels in spare capacity yet. However, as new purchases from Eni, Repsol, or Reliance are unlikely to come, this could fill up fast, prompting a deliberate cut in oil production. However, some companies still bought Venezuela […]