Venezuela Oil Price Starts 2014 at Low
Venezuela's Ministry of Energy and Petroleum reports that the average price of Venezuelan crude sold by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) during the week ending January 10 fell
CARACAS -- Venezuela's weekly oil basket stayed below the country's desired $100 a barrel floor for 2013 and fell further in the first week of 2014.
According to figures released by the Venezuela Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, the average price of Venezuelan crude sold by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) during the week ending January 10 was $94.34, down $2.45 from the previous week's $96.79.
WTI in New York averaged $93.01 -- down $3.82 -- for the week, while Brent crude traded in London averaged $106.90 -- down $2.43 from the previous week.
At $94.34, Venezuela's oil price this week was just above the low for Venezuela's oil basket in 2013 of $93.98, which was set during the week ending November 22.
According to Venezuelan government figures, the average price in 2013 for Venezuela's mix of heavy and medium crude was $99.49. In 2012, Venezuela averaged $103.42, higher than 2011's $101.06, 2010's $72.43, and much higher than 2009’s average price of $57.01.
In 2013, WTI averaged $97.96 while Brent has averaged $108.70. Benchmark WTI traded on the NYMEX averaged $94.23 for 2012 while Brent averaged $111.64 for that year. Prior to 2010, Brent and the heavier Venezuelan crude had historically traded below WTI.
Venezuela's basket set its highest weekly average on July 18, 2008, when it hit $126.46 before economies around the world began crashing under the weight of expensive oil and crashing sub-prime debt.
The United States is the largest importer of Venezuela’s oil exports.
According to the US Department of Energy, the US imported 728,000 barrels a day from Venezuela in July and averaged about 731,000 barrels a day for the year through July. In 2012, US oil imports from Venezuela averaged 906,000 barrels a day.
Oil is the main export of Venezuela and provides most of the country's foreign currency. According to Oil Minister and PDVSA head Rafael Ramirez -- who is now also the Economics Vice President -- the state oil company has delivered $34.290 billion to the Central Bank through September. Ramirez estimates that PDVSA will deliver a total $47.312 billion dollars to government coffers by the end of the year -- $1.232 billion more than in 2012.
The Joint Organizations Data Inititiative (JODI), overseen by the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia based International Energy Forum, reports that Venezuela's crude oil exports fell 12% to 1.38 million barrels a day in September.