Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has started filling tankers with crude and fuel oil and keeping them in Venezuelan waters, as inventories have mounted due to the U…
Venezuela's state-run oil company PDVSA has started filling tankers with crude and fuel oil and keeping them in Venezuelan waters, as inventories have mounted due to the U.S. seizing Venezuela-linked ships at sea, according to company documents and shipping data.
This month, the U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the Skipper and Centuries tankers in the Caribbean Sea, both fully loaded with Venezuelan crude. The Coast Guard this week was pursuing a third empty vessel that was approaching the OPEC country's shore.
The actions targeted vessels of a so-called "shadow fleet" of ships carrying sanctioned oil. U.S. President Donald Trump has announced a blockade of all vessels subject to U.S. sanctions. These factors have scared many ship owners and left more than a dozen cargoes stuck in Venezuelan waters waiting to depart.
The emerging backlog, as PDVSA produces about 1.1 million barrels of crude per day, is quickly filling the company's onshore tanks, especially at the Jose terminal, which receives extra heavy oil from the country's main output region, the Orinoco Belt, according to the documents.
PDVSA began draining part of those inventories to oil tankers over the past weekend, shipping and company data showed, a strategy it has resorted to in past
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