STRONG VENEZUELA SANCTIONS

PLATTS - The US is set to impose "even stronger sanctions" on Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro's financial networks, likely further hindering crude oil production and exports as US sanctions on state-owned oil company PDVSA entered their fifth week, US Vice President Mike Pence said Monday.

"We will find every last dollar they have stolen and return that money to the Venezuelan people," Pence said in a speech in Colombia before the Lima Group. "As we continue to bring economic and diplomatic pressure to bear on the Maduro regime, we hope for a peaceful transition to democracy, but as President Trump has made clear, all options are on the table."

Pence also urged members of the Lima Group to freeze assets of PDVSA. The US, along with 13 of the 14 nations in the Lima Group, does not recognize Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate president. Mexico is the lone Lima Group member to not recognize opposition leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's legitimate president.

The US on Monday also announced new sanctions on four Maduro-aligned Venezuelan state governors, including Ramon Carrizales, Venezuela's vice president from January 2008 to January 2010.

"US sanctions need not be permanent; they are intended to change behavior," the US State Department said in a statement Monday. "The United States will continue to take appropriate action to respond to the situation in Venezuela as it develops."

The sanctions follow violence at Venezuela's border over the weekend over aid deliveries into the country.

On January 28, the US Treasury Department unveiled sweeping sanctions on PDVSA, setting an immediate ban on US exports of diluent to Venezuela and requiring payments made to PDVSA to be through blocked accounts, setting up a de facto ban on US imports of Venezuela crude. On February 1, Treasury announced that transactions between non-US firms and PDVSA which involve the US financial system or US commodity brokers would be prohibited after April 28.

In a note Sunday, analysts with ClearView Energy Partners wrote that Treasury may decide to impose that prohibition before April 28 as a way to increase pressure on Maduro.

"We also would not rule out 'secondary sanctions' intended to block third parties from transactions with PDVSA in any currency," ClearView analysts wrote. "Either option seems likely to substantially tighten already declining Venezuelan exports."

PDVSA crude oil production, which averaged an estimated 1.16 million b/d in January, is expected to fall below 800,000 b/d in February due to the loss of US diluent imports.

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Earlier:

2019, February, 8, 11:35:00 U.S., VENEZUELA SANCTIONS EIA - Recently announced U.S. sanctions directed at Venezuela’s energy sector and state oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), will essentially eliminate U.S. imports of Venezuelan crude oil as the full effects of the sanctions emerge. However, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) does not anticipate any significant decrease in U.S. refinery runs as a result of these sanctions.

2019, February, 1, 11:30:00 U.S. LOOSE VENEZUELA'S OIL 500 TBD PLATTS- US refiners cannot rely on Mexico to replace Venezuelan heavy oil imports as the country is battling to reverse its declining production and Pemex's oil is sold under contractual basis, analysts and others say.

2019, January, 30, 11:35:00 WEAK VENEZUELA SANCTIONS OGJ - “The sanctions will affect refinery margins in the US. Now they will have to import heavy crude from the Middle East at a premium. US refiners will be amongst the biggest losers, as we have noted earlier,” Rodriguez-Masiu said.

2019, January, 30, 11:30:00 U.S., VENEZUELA SANCTIONS ALWAYS PLATTS - The Trump administration announced Monday that it will sanction PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned oil company, a move that could suspend roughly 500,000 b/d of Venezuelan crude exports to US Gulf Coast refineries and shut down US exports of diluents to the South American nation.

2019, January, 28, 10:20:00 CHINA FOR VENEZUELA: $50 BLN REUTERS - China has lent over $50 billion to Venezuela through oil-for-loan agreements over the past decade, securing energy supplies for its fast-growing economy.

2019, January, 25, 08:20:00 U.S. - VENEZUELA SANCTIONS PLATTS - Chevron, PBF Energy, Valero and Citgo, which is owned by PDVSA, are the largest US refiners of Venezuelan crude, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Spokesmen for those four companies did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

2019, January, 9, 10:45:00 VENEZUELA'S OIL PRODUCTION: BELOW 1 MBD PLATTS - The US Energy Information Administration forecasts that Venezuelan oil production will fall below 1 million b/d in the second half of 2019, according to Erik Kreil, an international energy analysis team leader with the EIA.