⁍ Storage levels at Jose reached 11.8 million barrels as of Saturday, more than double the 5.6 million barrels registered a month earlier.

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⁍ The surge in inventories, coupled with the drop in available storage tanks, could force PDVSA to slash crude production.

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⁍ The jump comes ahead of a deadline set by the United States for the few remaining established oil companies that still trade with PDVSA.

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– Venezuela’s state oil company is running low on storage space ahead of a deadline set by the US to get out of the oil business, Reuters reports. Per a document seen by the news agency, Petroleos de Venezuela SA’s storage levels at its main oil export terminal, Jose, reached 11.8 million barrels as of Saturday, more than double the 5.6 million barrels registered a month earlier. Just 3 million barrels of storage space was available. The US last year imposed sanctions on PDVSA in an effort to force President Nicolas Maduro to step down. As of Oct. 23, companies including Spain’s Repsol, Italy’s Eni, and Thailand’s Tipco asphalt PCL are required by law to stop trading with PDVSA. Just one tanker is scheduled to load 1 million barrels of Venezuela’s flagship grade, Merey 16, for Tipco between Oct. 23-25. Venezuela’s crude exports jumped in September as PDVSA’s long-term customers rushed to import oil ahead of the deadline, allowing the company to boost crude blending and upgrading at the Sinovensa and Petropiar facilities at Jose, jointly operated by China’s CNPC and California-based Chevron. As of Saturday, Sinovensa was producing 78,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Merey, down from 160,000 bpd two weeks ago. Petropiar’s output was steady at 115,000 bpd.