At least two oil tankers have made their way to Venezuela in recent days and others are navigating towards the country, a sign of state-run oil and natural gas company PDVSA’s effort to expand floating storage and keep selling crude even as a US blockade has reduced exports to a minimum.
US President Donald Trump this month announced a blockade of all sanctioned vessels going in or out of Venezuelan waters as part of a strategy to pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The US move has cut oil exports this month to about half of their November level. The US has seized two fully loaded cargoes of Venezuelan oil and its ships are patrolling the Caribbean Sea.
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The pressure has scared many vessel owners, prompting re-routings and U-turns. Only a fraction of ships have kept on course to the Opec (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) member. Some tanker owners have insisted.
At least two ships under sanctions have arrived in Venezuela over the past few days and two more that are not under sanctions are approaching its coast, according to monitoring service TankerTrackers.com.
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As part of swaps and arrangements made since the country was first placed under US energy sanctions in 2019, Maduro’s administration pays for a long list of purchases and services with oil, including debt service to China.
The two vessels approaching Venezuela are part of a fleet used by China and Venezuela to pay debt service with crude bound for Chinese ports. It was unclear whether China will press for a US waiver to secure delivery of those cargoes.