Dec 15 (Reuters) – Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA said on Monday it had been hit by a cyberattack that it blamed on the United States, adding that its operations had not been affected although four sources said systems remained down and oil cargo shipments were suspended.
Tensions are high between the U.S. and Venezuelan governments, with a massive U.S. troop buildup in the southern Caribbean, U.S. strikes against suspected drug-trafficking vessels and President Donald Trump saying land operations in Venezuela may soon begin.
Venezuela’s government says the United States is seeking regime change to take over the country’s vast oil reserves. Last week, the U.S. Coast Guard seized a very large crude carrier (VLCC) carrying approximately 1.85 million barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude oil for sale by PDVSA.
Venezuela’s state oil company and oil ministry said in a statement on Monday that the cyberattack was “perpetrated by a conspiracy between foreign interests and domestic entities seeking to undermine the country’s sovereign rights to develop energy.”
They claimed the attack was part of a U.S. effort to control Venezuelan oil through “force and piracy.”
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
PDVSA did not provide further details, but the company said it had recovered from the attack. The Venezuelan government often blames problems such as blackouts on conspirators from the opposition and foreign entities such as the CIA, without providing evidence.
Sources say the impact is still ongoing.
“There are no (goods) deliveries and all systems are down,” a company source said.
Sources said oil production, refining and domestic distribution were not affected, but the company failed to restart administrative systems on Monday, forcing workers to keep written records of operations.
Two other sources said PDVSA ordered administrative and operational staff to disconnect from the company’s systems and restricted indirect workers’ access to PDVSA’s facilities.
Tanker turns around
Last week’s seizure of a VLCC was the first interception of a tanker or cargo from Venezuela, which has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019 and a sign of growing pressure on President Nicolas Maduro.
The seizure has caused a sharp drop in Venezuelan oil exports and has also affected crisis-ridden Cuba, which faces daily power outages.
More than 11 million barrels of oil have been stuck on other ships in Venezuelan waters since last week. The few vessels that have set sail include vessels chartered by U.S. oil company Chevron, one of PDVSA’s main partners, and have continued sailing under authorization previously granted by Washington, according to shipping data.
A tanker carrying Russian naphtha for PDVSA and at least four supertankers preparing to pick up crude cargoes in Venezuela have turned around, ship monitoring data showed on Monday.
The Benin-flagged tanker Boltaris, carrying about 300,000 barrels of Russian naphtha bound for Venezuela, turned around late last week and is now on its way to Europe but has not yet unloaded, according to LSEG ship monitoring data.
At least four VLCCs planned by PDVSA to load crude at Venezuelan ports in the coming weeks have also turned around in recent days, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.
Venezuela’s crude oil output averaged 1.17 million barrels per day last month, according to official data, while oil exports rose to about 952,000 barrels per day, according to shipping data.
(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Julia Symes-Cobb, Nathan Crooks and Nia Williams)