Venezuela Crude Exports Surge Past 1 Million Bpd

Venezuela's oil exports have surpassed 1 million barrels per day for the first time in six months, according to ship-tracking data. The increase is largely due to sales to refiners in India and shipments by trading houses to the Caribbean for storage.

The OPEC country's oil sales have been rising since Caracas and Washington agreed on a pact in January to supply Venezuelan crude and fuel to the U.S. and other destinations under U.S. oversight.

Trading houses Vitol and Trafigura are handling most of the sales, with some 635,000 bpd in March. Chevron also increased exports, shipping 267,000 bpd of Venezuelan crude to the U.S.