PDVSA turns to floating storage as onshore tanks hit capacity amid US blockade

The emerging backlog, as PDVSA produces about 1.1 million barrels of crude per day, is quickly filling the company's onshore tanks, especially at the Jose terminal, which receives extra heavy oil from the country's main output region, the Orinoco Belt, according to the documents.

PDVSA began draining part of those inventories to oil tankers over the past weekend, shipping and company data showed, a strategy it has resorted to in past years to avoid cutting back oil production.

Since PDVSA's main joint-venture partner Chevron has not suspended exports of the crude grades they jointly produce, most inventories at Venezuela's western region, where storage capacity is very limited, are close to normal levels, the documents showed.