By Maryorin Méndez | 2025-05-14

CARACAS -- Since 2017, US sanctions targeting buyers of Venezuelan crude have pushed dictator Nicolás Maduro to seek workarounds, alternative routes to skirt sanctions and new clients willing to accept the risk of doing business with a country mired in an endemic crisis.

China quickly stepped in to exploit Venezuela's economic fragility and its struggle to attract buyers. Beijing has consistently secured oil shipments at deep discounts.

Chevron's departure from Venezuela, ordered by Washington ahead of a May deadline, forced Caracas to search for new partners to offload its crude.

Once again, China, falsely citing "mutually beneficial cooperation," returned to the table, this time offering to renegotiate all its contracts. According to a May 1 report by Bloomberg Línea, which cited several sources familiar with the discussions, China requested even steeper discounts on future oil purchases.

For years, China has bought Venezuelan hydrocarbons at rock-bottom prices, the lowest that Maduro, increasingly desperate, has been able to offer.

The Venezuelan crisis has only deepened in 2025, and China continues to reap the benefits.

Beijing's costly friendship

During his visit to Russia from May 7 to May 9, Maduro conferred on various matters with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. In his remarks, Xi described China and Venezuela as "good partners of mutual trust and common development."

Maduro called China a "great friend of Venezuela" and thanked Beijing for its "long-standing and selfless support."

But China's support is far from selfless. Its push to renegotiate oil prices offers just one example.

A source consulted by Entorno said that since the second major wave of US sanctions in mid-2019, Venezuela has lost dozens of oil shipments sold to supposedly "trusted partners," who later claimed the cargo was lost at sea.

These transactions leave no trail. With no formal channels to file claims, calculating the true losses, what the source called "the robbery of the century," remains impossible.

With few options, Maduro must accept the word of questionable buyers, chiefly independent Chinese refineries, which dominate the market for maritime oil shipments from US-sanctioned countries like Venezuela and Iran.

Desperation meets leverage

Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro regime vice president and energy minister, traveled to China from April 23 to April 28, urging Caracas's dwindling circle of allies to ramp up oil purchases.

Rodríguez conferred about oil with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng and Dai Houliang, chairman of China National Petroleum, in what analysts view as a preemptive move ahead of the US-mandated withdrawal of Chevron and other foreign energy firms by the end of May.

Under Washington's directive, Chevron, Repsol SA, Eni SpA and Maurel & Prom must halt their oil production in and exports from Venezuela.

Sensing Maduro's urgency, China has begun reevaluating its contracts and seeking deeper discounts by citing the legal and logistical risks tied to purchasing oil from a heavily sanctioned state, according to a source familiar with the talks.

Media outlets, including Bloomberg and Reuters, reported in late April that at least four "ghost ships" -- tankers using the identities of decommissioned vessels to evade detection -- have recently departed Venezuela. The ships reportedly set sail from the José and Amuay crude complexes.

Chinese firms remain Venezuela's top buyers, with 10 tankers transporting about 461,000 barrels per day to Chinese refiners, Bloomberg Línea reported, citing US customs and maritime tracking data.

Of that volume, between 5% and 10% goes toward repaying Venezuela's massive debt to China.

Venezuela still owes China approximately $13 billion, after China lent the Latin American country $62.5 billion from 2007 through 2016.