Chevron's Venezuelan oil cargoes canceled, stalled amid payment uncertainty

HOUSTON, April 11 (Reuters) - At least two vessels carrying Venezuelan crude chartered by Chevron CVX.N are stalled due to state oil company PDVSA canceling their export authorizations, according to shipping data and sources, as the government had no certainty of payment amid the hardening of U.S. sanctions on the OPEC-member country.

An individual license issued in 2022 by the United States for Chevron to operate in Venezuela was revoked in March by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration with a wind-down period granted until May 27. But PDVSA's orders are now cutting the deadline short.

The U.S. oil producer awaits customs paperwork to return the cargoes to ports after PDVSA on Thursday canceled set-sail authorizations to two of the Chevron-chartered vessels that had finished loading.

The Venezuelan company also suspended loading permits to four other Chevron tankers, which began to sail away empty on Friday, according to the sources and LSEG shipping data, adding uncertainty to the U.S. company's exports from Venezuela.

The Venezuelan government blamed the U.S. measures for the issue, saying they prevented Chevron from paying for the oil.

"Because of the economic war initiated by the U.S. government against oil companies, Chevron has returned cargoes of crude to PDVSA," Vice President Delcy Rodriguez posted on Telegram. "This crude is being sold on international markets.

As of Friday, the Chevron-chartered vessels Dubai Attraction and Carina Voyager remained loaded in Venezuelan waters waiting for paperwork for the cargoes' return, according to the sources and shipping data.

The cargoes had been declared as exports to Venezuela's customs authority, so Chevron must now obtain authorization for their return. PDVSA is requesting the cargoes be returned in coming days at ports including Amuay, the sources said.

Carina Voyager was bound for Chevron's Pascagoula refinery in Mississippi, while Dubai Attraction was scheduled to transfer its cargo to the Valero Energy-chartered VLO.N tanker Cap Corpus Christi off Aruba, according to the data and sources.

The Cap Corpus Christi departed partially loaded on Friday to the United States as it could not complete its load via ship-to-ship, the LSEG data showed.

Four other Chevron vessels scheduled to load this month - the Pegasus Star, Ionic Anax, Calypso and Sea Jaguar - had their loading windows suspended. Two of them were sailing away from Venezuelan waters on Friday, according to the sources and data.

Chevron, PDVSA and Valero did not reply to requests for comment.

Venezuela's vice president did not say if the cargoes would be rescheduled by PDVSA.

Chevron, whose joint ventures with PDVSA produce about a quarter of the country's oil output, exported some 250,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude to the United States in the first quarter under its license, granted in 2022.

That license and others to European and Asian companies in Venezuela were canceled by the Trump administration last month as Washington accused President Nicolas Maduro of not doing enough to curb illegal migration to the U.S. and restore democracy in Venezuela.

Maduro's government has long rejected the U.S. sanctions on the country's oil industry, in effect since 2019.