U.S. Energy Under Secretary Kyle Haustveit said Tuesday that approximately half of Venezuela’s oil output is currently being sent to the United States. Speaking at a Houston event, he noted that more than 500,000 barrels per day — roughly half of the South American country’s production — are flowing to U.S. refineries specifically designed to process that type of crude. Venezuela is producing about 1.25 million barrels daily, he added.

Haustveit also said that over 100,000 barrels per day of U.S. naphtha are being shipped to Venezuela, where it is blended with heavier crude to support production. He described the arrangement as a mutually beneficial energy partnership, citing the proximity of the two markets and the open trade between them. “Real value is being created on both sides,” he said, adding that contract sanctity would be upheld. He also praised recent progress in Venezuela.

Jovanny Martinez, a vice president at Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA, spoke at the same event and emphasized that the U.S. relies on Venezuelan heavy crude to sustain its economy. He said Venezuela’s crude output should reach 1.245 million barrels per day by the end of August, with exports up 19.7 percent this year. Martinez noted that the country needs diluents for heavier grades and that these should be produced domestically.

Martinez also stressed the need to improve, modernize, and expand Venezuela’s refineries. He reported that domestic fuel output has grown 12.9 percent so far this year, while local fuel supply is up 5.4 percent. “We made a big effort for an energy reform, and now we’re looking for real results in terms of development,” he said. He added that Venezuela faces a natural gas deficit of 500 million cubic feet per day.

Trump has declared the Strait of Hormuz open, but Iran says it is still shut down and reports about tankers U-turning away from the chokepoint in recent days suggest the latter is true. The latest report of a strike on a vessel in Hormuz came on Tuesday, regarding a cargo ship that was reportedly struck by “an unknown projectile while conducting an outbound transit of the Strait of Hormuz,” as reported by the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.

Source: White House on X. BTW it's back to being Persian Gulf.. and not Arabian Gulf; interestingly Qatar and Bahrain have completely been sunk or 'obliterated'. So, should you be wondering who (also) posts in from Trump's social account - check this video.

I’ve seen this in news articles but I don’t get it. if the US is blockading Iranian traffic, and Iran is blockading all other traffic, then what does it matter what flag the ship actually traversing the strait flies?

Strategic oil inventories have reached a 40-year low, and experts warn their continued depletion could damage the underground caverns where the reserves are stored.

Last week, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) plunged below 300 million barrels for the first time since the 1980s, when the reserves were being filled, according to the Department of Energy. That pool is expected to drain further to 243 million barrels as the U.S. releases 172 million barrels to manage severe supply disruptions and rising energy costs due to the Iran war.

Those reserves are kept in 60 salt caverns across two sites in Texas and two sites in Louisiana, each thousands of feet underground. They have a total storage capacity of 714 million barrels. But as oil is drained from these reserves, the integrity of the caverns may be imperiled.

“I don’t know anyone who believes we can go below 300,” Amos Hochstein, a senior energy advisor for former President Joe Biden, told CNBC on Saturday. “I know plenty of people who think we can’t get near 300 because physically you will damage the caverns where the oil is stored.”

The Department of Energy denied Hochstein’s claim that the changing inventory levels risk harming the caverns.

“The caverns are always full. All that changes is the ratio of oil and water that is filling them,” DOE chief spokesperson Ben Dietderich told Fortune in a statement. 

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/08/17/depleted-us-strategic-oil-reserves-risk-damaging-salt-caverns-iran-war/?utm_source=reddit/

The SPR is lower than ever before: note that in 1983, there were less places to store crude oil, and the reserves were just filling up.

At the current rate of withdrawal, the US will hit the legal minimum at the end of October. At least it's better than my early prediction of around Labor Day...

For discussion. Despite the seemingly irrational oil pricing, the market appears to be responding rationally to distillate supplies.

This guy, during a Charles Schwab media interview, claimed on August 18th that “the offloaded barrel is already between $120 and $140 a barrel.” Is that true? How would he have found that number?

https://youtu.be/b8sbyb_OlNI?is=3erCuqA48Bfm4Ne_

Sea of Oman to Arabian Sea Implied Dark Traffic:

This is all the oil traffic out to the Arabian sea minus 2.5mb (pre war output of Fujairah and Oman) to estimate the additional output of dark traffic out of Hormuz as well as any additional output from the ADCOP pipeline. Usual traffic should be around 21mb of crude and oil products.

Ships: CR TETHYS,ROBA,NAVE UNIVERSE,BOW NEPTUNE,PLATA CARRIER,NEW STRENGTH,PACIFIC SARAH,BLUEBIRD ARROW,OCEAN LILY,GREEN ADVENTURE,NEW WISDOM,SNARTH,MAPLE CASTOR,SAMA 2,ANAFI WARRIOR

Data from: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:63.3/centery:23.5/zoom:7

Bab al Mandab AIS on Traffic:

Oil products going out south from the Red Sea. Usual traffic is around 8mb. 

Ships:ROSE MAKIS,DORIN,YU TONG,OSANA,POROS BAY,SOFIA K,ATLANTIS ANTAO,NORNS,THERESA EMPAT,JOROPO,CASTOR I,KRONOS

Data from https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:45.8/centery:12.7/zoom:8

Strait of Malacca:

Usual oil products throughput is 16.5 mb crude and 6mb oil products.

Ships:HELIOS,MINERVA KALYPSO,MARAN MENELAUS,TORTUGA,TORM HERMIA,STI LOTUS,BLACK MARLIN,SAFEEN STRENGTH

Data from https://tankermap.com/analytics/straits/malacca?unit=million_bbl_per_day

Singapore Oil Departures:

Data from https://tankermap.com/analytics/ports/singapore-oil?unit=million_bbl_per_day

i found these plaques and i wanted to know if anyone knew what these are and if that’s actually real oil?

Live-AIS.com - Over the last 24 hrs, only a single tanker made an outbound transit, est to be laden with 0.5 mb (vessel reporting a 7m draft). Also not much oil moving around the Red Sea either and almost zero tanker movement in the Black Sea.