HOUSTON — Valero Energy Corp. and Phillips 66 have bought discounted cargoes of Venezuelan oil for delivery to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries, marking the first commercial purchases tied to Washington’s new authorization to market up to 50 million barrels from Venezuela, Jan. 22, 2026.
The deals, routed through commodity merchant Vitol, underscore a simple reality for refiners: Venezuelan oil can move quickly when the discount is wide enough — but buyers will push for deeper price cuts when comparable heavy crude is already available from other suppliers.
Why refiners are revisiting Venezuelan oil
People familiar with the transactions told Reuters in its report on the trades that Valero and Phillips 66 each purchased a cargo from Vitol for delivery to the Gulf Coast at about $8.50 to $9.50 a barrel below Brent. The purchases are among the first U.S. refinery deals executed through newly authorized trading routes for Venezuelan oil, rather than barrels marketed through longer-running joint venture channels.
Discounts, logistics and the pace of shipments
So far, the 50 million-barrel arrangement has begun shifting barrels out of storage — but at a measured pace. PDVSA documents and vessel-tracking data showed exports under the supply deal had reached about 7.8 million barrels by Wednesday, with seven tankers departing since Jan. 12 and much of the crude staged at Caribbean terminals, according to a Reuters report on the export flow.
For refiners, the core question is whether Venezuelan oil stays cheap enough to beat comparable heavy grades after accounting for freight, compliance costs and counterparty risk. If the discount narrows, refiners can often lean back on established heavy-crude supply chains rather than retool procurement for a politically sensitive, paperwork-heavy stream.
U.S. officials have framed the opening sales as meaningful in scale. An administration official told CBS News that the first U.S. sale of Venezuelan oil was valued at $500 million, with additional sales expected in the coming weeks.
How this fits the longer sanctions arc
The return of Venezuelan oil to U.S. deal-making follows years of shifting policy and partial workarounds. The Trump administration sanctioned Venezuela’s state oil company in January 2019, sharply tightening financial restrictions tied to PDVSA, the Associated Press reported at the time. In November 2022, Washington issued an expanded license allowing Chevron to lift and import Venezuelan crude under limits meant to block cash payments to the Venezuelan government, Reuters reported.
In October 2023, the Biden administration broadly eased Venezuela oil sanctions after an election-related agreement, Reuters reported, before moving to reimpose broader restrictions in April 2024, also reported by Reuters.
Trade data reflect those swings: U.S. Energy Information Administration figures show U.S. crude imports from Venezuela averaged roughly 500,000 barrels per day through 2018, plunged after early 2019, and later reappeared under narrower licensing periods (EIA import series).
The latest approach is bigger and more commercial. President Donald Trump has said the United States expects to redirect up to $2 billion worth of Venezuelan crude — roughly 30 million to 50 million barrels — toward U.S. buyers, according to Reuters’ reporting on the pact.
What to watch next:
If Venezuelan oil remains heavily discounted, more Gulf Coast refiners could follow Valero and Phillips 66 into opportunistic purchases. If discounts tighten or logistics stay constrained, the early deals may remain limited — a short-term trade rather than a sustained reopening of Venezuelan oil flows into U.S. refineries.
