Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (acronym PDVSA, English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as exploration and production of natural gas. Since its founding on January 1, 1976, with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry, PDVSA has dominated the oil industry of Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA has received and is unloading a Russia-origin 700,000-barrel cargo of heavy naphtha, a key product for its heavy crude output, according to vessel tracking data and a shipping document seen by Reuters. US-sanctioned PDVSA needs imported light crude, condensate and naphtha to dilute its production of heavy oil and make it exportable. Russia and Iran, which are also under US sanctions, have provided the country with those products in the past.