Venezuela has stopped upgrading crude oil as PDVSA finds itself without buyers in the wake of US sanctions, according to sources who spoke to Reuters. Venezuela hasn’t shut down its upgraders completely, instead, leaving some of them running without producing new oil in order to prevent damage to the facilities. The upgraders are responsible for upgrading the Latin American nation’s extra-heavy Orinoco oil into lighter-weight grades that are more palatable for foreign buyers—buyers which have now moved on to other suppliers in their efforts to not run afoul of the US sanctions levied against Venezuela as the United States looks to choke off Venezuela’s primary income stream to effect a change in leadership. The upgraders in question are owned in part by Chevron, Total, Equinor, and Rosneft. Only one crude processing facility remains producing, which blends Orinoco with lighter grades according to Reuters. That facility produces just 70,000 bpd. […]