By Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa
HOUSTON/MARACAY (Reuters) - Venezuela's oil exports rose to a four-year high, approaching 950,000 barrels per day in October, boosted by growing crude output and more sales to India and the United States, according to shipping data and documents from state firm PDVSA.
The increase happened despite a large storage terminal fire last month, tighter U.S. sanctions since June and the arrest of the country's former oil minister, Pedro Tellechea, and former PDVSA executives over corruption allegations.
A bounce in crude production, mainly due to the stabilization of processing operations at Venezuela's largest oil region, the Orinoco Belt, has allowed the recovery of heavy crude inventories, the PDVSA documents showed.
In total, PDVSA and its joint ventures exported an average of 947,387 bpd of crude and fuel, 21% over the previous month and the highest monthly figure since early 2020, according to the data, based on tanker movements.
The South American country, which has remained under U.S. sanctions since 2019, also exported 314,500 metric tons of oil byproducts and petrochemicals, slightly more than the 267,000 tons of September.
Crude shipments by Chevron (NYSE:CVX) to the United States reached a peak of 280,000 bpd, the highest since the U.S. producer resumed exports of Venezuela's heavy grades early last year. Spanish producer Repsol (OTC:REPYY) also exported Venezuelan oil cargoes to the U.S. and Spain last month.
PDVSA increased exports to India, which used to be a top market before the sanctions, sending three cargoes, or about 141,000 bpd, last month, the data showed.
Crude deliveries to the U.S., Europe and India are authorized under U.S. licenses to some PDVSA's joint venture partners and customers, including Chevron, Repsol, Eni, Maurel & Prom, and Reliance Industries.
However, China remained the main destination of Venezuela's oil exports in October with 385,300 bpd shipped to the world's top oil importer directly and indirectly. Exports to China had been higher in September, when they averaged some 451,500 bpd.
Venezuela's exports to political ally Cuba, which is struggling to overcome an acute energy crisis, slightly rose to 28,000 bpd, from 22,000 bpd in September.
Venezuela also saw an increase in fuel imports to 81,000 bpd, from 67,000 bpd the previous month, according to the data.