Due to US sanctions and export blockade, warehouses in Venezuela are full of oil. Tanks on land are almost bursting at the seams, and surpluses are also stored on tankers. As reported by Reuters, most of Venezuela's warehouses and ships are in terrible technical condition, which makes transshipment of oil to other vessels risky. Currently, according to agency sources, at least three powerful companies are seeking government contracts to export Venezuelan oil. This is Chevron from the USA, the American branch of the Dutch company Vitol and Trafigura based in Singapore. The latter announced at a meeting at the White House on Friday that the first ship carrying oil could be ready to sail within a week.
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Oil from Venezuela. Limited transfer options
According to Reuters sources, onshore tanks have not been maintained for years, posing a risk to entities trying to load oil. Transfer operations are also hampered by a shortage of smaller ships to transport oil from storage tanks to quays, where the oil can be transferred to tankers.
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Transfer functions may be taken over by, among others: shipping companies Maersk Tankers and American Eagle Tankers (AET). AET already supports Chevron in this respect, but has already received inquiries from potential customers about the possibility of expanding its capacity. In turn, Denmark's Maersk already conducts such operations on the nearby islands of Aruba and Curacao, which are often used to transfer Venezuelan oil. However, the company said in a statement that currently “Maersk's presence in Venezuela is limited.” Maersk will employ only 17 employees here, which makes it difficult to expand its operations. “We are closely monitoring the situation,” the company said in a statement.
According to Reuters, oil companies, including Chevron, Vitol and Trafigura, are already obtaining supplies of kerosene necessary to transport crude oil. Naphtha is typically blended with Venezuelan heavy crude to reduce its density and make it easier to transport and process in refineries.
