Factbox: Venezuelan energy accords driven by Hugo Chavez

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Venezuela signed numerous energy deals during former President Hugo Chavez's 14 years in power, allowing countries in the Caribbean, Central America and other regions to receive oil on favorable financial terms. The accords, along with almost 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) that are sent to China to repay debts owed by Venezuela, are weighing on the cash flow of state-run oil company PDVSA. Venezuela last year sent an average of 243,000 bpd of crude and products to countries that signed accords known as Petrocaribe, the Caracas Energy Agreement and other bilateral deals. Those shipments were the lowest since 2007. With growing domestic fuel consumption outpacing production and limited refining output, PDVSA has been forced to trim exports of oil products to its customers. Since a severe explosion occurred in 2012 at Venezuela's largest refinery, the 645,000 bpd Amuay, PDVSA's refining network is running at less than 70 percent of capacity. That has forced PDVSA to import some 150,000 bpd of products. These are the main energy agreements created by Chavez, who died of cancer last year: * Cuba agreement: The most controversial Venezuelan energy agreement was also the first signed by Chavez in 2000. It has allowed Cuba to receive some 100,000 bpd of Venezuelan crude and products in exchange for medical services, power supplies, and technical assistance. Venezuela sent 99,000 bpd to Cuba last year, according to its financial report, a number that has been steady in recent years. PDVSA is also the minority stakeholder of the 65,000 bpd Cienfuegos refinery in Cuba. * Petrocaribe: It was created in 2005 and since then several Central American and Caribbean countries have joined to reach a total of 15 members. It allows beneficiaries to pay only 40 percent of the invoice of a shipment in the short term and postpone payment on the other portion, which can be paid in a 25-year credit with a grace period of two years and an annual interest rate of 1-2 percent. Countries can also barter to pay the debt with different good and services, from cattle to nutmeg. In 2013, Venezuela received 650,217 tons of food - from beans to components to make cement- to payoff a portion of the invoices, 16 percent less than in 2012. Venezuelan opposition parties have opposed the agreements because of the preferential terms and because Venezuela still itself has a high poverty rate. * Caracas Energy Agreement: It was born in 2000 as a Chavez initiative to supply oil to other Central American and South American countries. It went into effect five years later with oil shipments to Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. It also allows countries to postpone more than a half of the invoice in a 25-year credit and to pay with goods and services. * Argentina agreement: It was signed in the middle of Argentina's energy crisis to provide the South American country with fuels for its electricity market. Since 2008, Argentina has been allowed to import up to 27,000 bpd of fuel oil and 8,000 bpd of diesel. It pays Venezuela with different goods, from cattle to crude tankers. * Exchange with Ecuador: Chavez and President Rafael Correa agreed in 2007 to start an exchange of Ecuadorian crude for Venezuelan finished fuels, to cut intermediaries that were increasing import costs for Ecuador. Venezuela once received as much as 60,000 bpd of Ecuadorian crudes to refine at its domestic network and its subsidiary in the United States, Citgo Petroleum. But volume has been falling. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Kieran Murray)