US crude oil imports from Venezuela reached their highest level since May 2017 in July, averaging 701,000 barrels a day, the US Energy Information Administration said in an analysis published Nov. 6.
Imports fell to 655,000 barrels a day in August, the agency said in its Today in Energy article, “U.S. crude oil imports from Venezuela in July were highest since 2017.”
The analysis used the agency’s Petroleum Supply Monthly data to track US purchases from Venezuela in 2026, alongside changes in restrictions on trade with the country. Imports started the year at 200,000 barrels a day and increased in most months, the agency said.
The agency linked the increase to strong demand for crude oil from US refineries and the easing of US government restrictions on purchases from Venezuela. High global refinery margins supported that demand, it said.
Many refineries on the US Gulf Coast are configured to process heavy sour crude oil, including grades produced in Venezuela, the agency said. Those plants were also the destination for shipments Chevron resumed after receiving US government permission.
The United States became the largest single destination by volume for Venezuelan crude exports in 2026, the agency said, citing shipping data provider Vortexa. Venezuela exported no crude oil to China this year, those data showed.
That marked a change from 2025, when China received most of Venezuela’s crude oil exports, the Vortexa data showed. The shift in destinations accompanied the increase in US imports described by the agency.
US crude imports from Venezuela stopped shortly after Washington imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, in January 2019, the agency said. Purchases later resumed under permissions granted to Chevron.
The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control granted Chevron waivers in November 2022, the agency said. Those waivers allowed the company to resume exports from its joint venture operations in Venezuela to refineries on the US Gulf Coast.
Chevron resumed those exports in January 2023, the agency said. The waivers preceded the broader easing of restrictions that the agency linked to this year’s increase in imports.
The US government eased restrictions on Venezuela’s state oil company following the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January 2026, the agency said. Washington also authorized US companies to invest in Venezuela to increase domestic crude production.
The July peak did not carry through to August, the agency’s monthly figures showed. August imports nevertheless remained above the level recorded at the start of the year.
