
Mexican court has unfrozen the bank accounts of a local company blacklisted by the United States for trading in oil with Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA despite US sanctions, Mexico's anti-money laundering unit said.

The U.S. State Department, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico are investigating at least two Mexican firms involved in an oil-for-food pact signed in 2019 with Venezuela’s government, U.S. officials said.

Venezuela has swapped millions of barrels of crude for supplies of corn and water trucks under an oil-for-food deal struck with a Mexican firm, in an effort to secure imports amid tightening U.S. sanctions, according to the company and export schedules.

Venezuela's state energy firm PDVSA has been shipping more oil this month to close ally Cuba, as tighter U.S. sanctions have worsened fuel shortages on the Caribbean island, according to sources.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is considering selling shares of the country's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, in an attempt to recover the country's petroleum industry and its dwindling production.

A huge oil spill off Brazil's northeastern coast may have involved a “ghost ship” carrying Venezuelan oil in breach of US sanctions, a Petrobras expert close to the probe into the disaster said on Tuesday.

Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA on Thursday denied accusations by Brazil that it was responsible for a massive oil spill that has polluted beaches on its northeastern Atlantic coast.

Venezuela could lose its largest U.S. asset after a court allowed a Canadian gold miner to seize shares of Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s parent to satisfy an arbitration award.

Venezuela's largest refinery complex has been hit by a power outage, at a time of acute fuel shortages in parts of the crisis-torn oil producer, an opposition lawmaker said on Sunday.

Venezuelan oil exports fell by 17% in May compared to April, due to the difficulty to sell barrels of heavy crude oil that US refiners used to buy and process before the sanctions imposed on the Nicolás Maduro government, reported Reuters.