Venezuela's crude exports just hit 1,300,000 barrels per day.
The Hormuz crisis made this possible.
January 2026: exports collapsed to 450 kbd as the Iran war broke out.
June 2026: exports surged to 1,300 kbd nearly tripling in 6 months.
💰3 buyers drove the surge:
🇺🇸 US: the dominant buyer. Gulf Coast refiners need heavy crude to replace lost Middle East supply. Venezuela has it.
🇮🇳 India: barely present in 2025. Now a major buyer — hunting every non-Gulf heavy barrel available.
🇨🇳China: stepped in when US buying dipped, now sharing the market.
The logic is simple.
Iranian heavy crude is off the market.
Middle East sour grades can't transit Hormuz.
US and Asian refiners built for heavy feedstock need replacement barrels urgently.
Venezuela has 1.3 mb/d of heavy crude, Atlantic access, and no Hormuz exposure.
A year ago this was a sanctions story.
Today it's a supply security story.
The Hormuz crisis didn't just disrupt the Middle East.
It rehabilitated Venezuela as a strategic supplier to 3 of the world's largest oil buyers simultaneously.