Oil loading slowed down this Monday in Venezuela due to the United States naval blockade against sanctioned vessels entering or leaving the country. The news agency Reuters He also detailed that most of the ships transported oil shipments only between local ports.
Since last December 10, the United States mobilized a military fleet to the Caribbean for what was first known as an operation against drug trafficking. It now includes two military confiscations of oil tankers and a blockade of this type of vessels.
US President Donald Trump made the decision as part of his pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro. Since then, more than 20 raids have been carried out against ships that, according to the United States, transport drugs in the Pacific and Caribbean seas.
The situation caused the number of tankers loaded with oil without leaving Venezuelan ports to increase. According to Reutersmillions of barrels of Venezuelan oil were stranded on ships. Meanwhile, customers demand greater discounts and contract changes to make risky trips off the country’s coasts.
This Monday, the agency cited data from the London Stock Exchange Group which shows how some oil tankers that were approaching the Venezuelan coast changed course. Other boats chose to stop until they received instructions from their owners.
The Venezuelan state oil company (PDVSA) is working to restore some of its online systems after suffering a cyber attack last week. Reuters He detailed that the central administrative system has not yet been fully restored and that some employees did not receive their salaries on time.
Chevron is the only one authorized
Venezuela produces almost one million barrels per day and Chevron is the only one authorized to take its oil from the country to the United States, amid an embargo that Trump himself imposed in 2019. Reuters He highlighted that this Sunday Chevron sent a shipment of Venezuelan oil equivalent to 500,000 barrels. The shipment sailed to the US coast of the Gulf of Mexico on a tanker that had authorization from Washington.
According to the data, Chevron shipped seven shipments of Venezuelan oil to the United States this month, each with between 300,000 and 500,000 barrels. The shipments come amid the rise recorded this Monday in Brent crude oil 2.17% to $61.78 a barrel. There was also an increase in US West Texas Intermediate crude oil by 2.2% at $57.77 a barrel, according to figures published by the news agency.
