Venezuelan Oil Prices 2025

The price of Venezuelan oil (Merey blend, the Venezuelan reference within the OPEC basket) averaged $64.96 per barrel in February 2025, a 3% drop compared to the previous month, according to OPEC data.

In the first two months of 2025, the price of Venezuelan oil averaged $65.95 per barrel, compared to $66.88 for the same period last year.

In 2024, the Venezuelan barrel price averaged $65.26, compared to $64.37 last year, a 1.4% increase. The 2024 average was slightly higher than that of 2023, the first increase in Venezuelan crude oil prices since 2022.

The Venezuelan Ministry of Petroleum (now called the Ministry of Hydrocarbons) stopped reporting oil prices in the second quarter of 2020, when it plummeted amid the market crisis caused by the pandemic. Until then, the weekly average was published.

Figures can now be obtained from the monthly report published by OPEC, whose information comes directly from PDVSA or the Ministry.  

The relaxation of US sanctions since October 2023 has allowed Venezuela to resume shipments to that country, as well as to market it to other destinations without having to pay additional costs or special discounts. A measure that will be suspended in the coming months after the license to Chevron to continue its operations was reversed.

According to Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, in Venezuela, “excessive costs and discounts represent about 25% of the crude oil price.” The official reported this figure in the presentation of the Ministers’ Report and Accounts at the end of March 2022.

“In addition, once the payment is received, additional costs must be paid to move the money to Venezuela. As a result of the blockade, these payments came to cost up to 15% of the gross value to be moved,” she added.  

Venezuelan oil production fell sharply due to US sanctions, which worsened the decline that the national industry had been dragging due to poor administration, however, they marked a recovery since 2021.