⁍ Venezuela’s state-run Petroleos de Venezuela has boosted crude blending and upgrading to their highest levels in six months.

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⁍ The upgraders are crucial to converting extra-heavy oil from eastern Venezuela’s Orinoco belt into exportable crude grades.

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⁍ But they have operated only intermittently in recent months due to a plunge in exports and technical issues linked to lack of maintenance.

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– Despite US sanctions, Venezuela’s state-run oil company is ramping up its crude exports, Reuters reports. According to company documents seen by the news agency, state-run Petroleos de Venezuela has increased crude blending and upgrading at two facilities to their highest levels in six months. The facilities are key to converting extra-heavy oil from Venezuela’s eastern Orinoco belt—the OPEC nation’s largest-producing region—into exportable crude grades. But they have operated only intermittently in recent months due to a plunge in exports and technical issues linked to lack of maintenance. On Tuesday, the Petropiar upgrader—part of a joint venture with Chevron Corp—produced 115,000 barrels of Hamaca crude and the Sinovensa blending facility, operated along with China National Petroleum Corp, produced 158,000 barrels of Merey crude. That was the highest joint level since March, as an increase in September’s exports to the highest level in five months allowed PDVSA to drain inventories, which had risen to near-capacity levels as US sanctions spooked potential buyers. The facilities have also been plagued by operational issues. On Sept. 30, the Petropiar upgrader stopped working two days after restarting due to an electrical outage prompted by a transformer explosion. It has now operated continuously since Oct. 3. PDVSA did not respond to a request for comment. It is not clear how long PDVSA will be able to maintain current levels of exports and upgrader operations.