Merey crude averaged $43.21 per barrel during January, more than $2 below December 2025 levels and $22 below January 2025 prices, representing a 33% year-on-year decline. Export volumes showed slight improvement from the previous month, reaching nearly 800,000 barrels daily, but remained approximately 8% below January 2025 levels. The combined effect of depressed pricing and reduced volume drove the revenue contraction.
Beyond the revenue decline, PDVSA faces direct loss of control over its export proceeds. Following events of January 3, 2026, the US government imposed strict controls on funds derived from Venezuelan oil exports. President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14.373 six days later, establishing an embargo on PDVSA revenues generated outside Venezuelan territory. The measure designates the US government as custodian and controller of Foreign Government Deposit Funds, specifically targeting PDVSA assets held in Qatar.
The January 2026 performance contrasts sharply with PDVSA’s recent trajectory. Through the first four months of 2025, the company recorded $5.1 billion in revenues, 8.5% above the same 2024 period, despite Merey prices running $7 per barrel lower. Export volumes averaged 681,000 barrels daily in that period, with a February peak above 930,000 barrels. By August 2025, eight-month revenues totaled $9.77 billion, slightly exceeding the prior year despite prices remaining $10 per barrel below 2024 levels, as volumes ran 17% higher. Ten-month 2025 revenues reached $12.25 billion, though this represented a 5% decline from 2024 as the Merey discount widened to over $8 per barrel. Export volumes for the January-October 2025 period averaged 851,900 barrels daily, 14% above the prior year.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
