Venezuela's oil exports rose 14 per cent to 1.23 million barrels per day in April, the highest in more than seven years, fuelled by more sales to the US, India and Europe, shipping data and documents from state company PDVSA showed on Friday.
The South American country has been draining oil inventories and recovering crude output in recent months following the US capture of President Nicolas Maduro in January, which led to a flagship supply pact between the governments of US President Donald Trump and Venezuela's interim President Delcy Rodriguez.
The agreement, coupled with US licences easing sanctions on the country, has allowed PDVSA's joint-venture partners and trading houses including Vitol and Trafigura to receive cargoes from the state firm for sales to refiners in the US, Europe and Asia.
In April, a total of 66 vessels departed from Venezuelan waters, compared with 61 ships that carried 1.08 million bpd of crude and refined products in March, according to the data, based on tanker movements.
The April average is the highest monthly volume since late 2018, before US sanctions were imposed on Venezuela's energy industry.
(Reporting by Marianna Parraga and Mircely Guanipa. Editing by Nathan Crooks and Mark Potter)
