Latin American crude prices and flows to the United States have climbed this week as U.S. refiners tap lesser-used grades and suppliers to replace Venezuelan oil lost due to U.S. sanctions, according to trade sources and Refinitiv Eikon data. The sudden drop in Venezuela’s shipments to the United States worsened a global drought of the heavy crude that U.S. Gulf Coast refineries prefer, spurring a hunt for similar grades. Producers in Colombia, Ecuador and Brazil are benefiting as Venezuelan shipments fall and Canada and Mexico wrestle with production declines and pipeline constraints. U.S. sanctions that took effect last week bar U.S. companies from paying Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA for oil, creating furious demand […]