TANKER TARGET LIST
Venezuela’s state oil firm PDVSA didn’t reply to a request for remark. Venezuela’s authorities this week mentioned the US seizure constituted a “theft.” The White Home Nationwide Safety Council didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The US has assembled a goal record of a number of extra sanctioned tankers for attainable seizure, in keeping with one of many individuals acquainted with the matter.
The US Justice Division and Homeland Safety had been planning the seizures for months, in keeping with two of the individuals.
A discount or halt in Venezuelan oil exports, the primary generator of income for the Venezuelan authorities, would pressure the Maduro authorities’s funds.
The brand new US method focuses on the actions of what’s referred to as the shadow fleet of tankers that transports sanctioned oil to China, the most important purchaser of crude from Venezuela and Iran. A single vessel will typically make separate runs on behalf of Iran, Venezuela and Russia, the sources added.
The seizure of the tanker, carrying the title Skipper, triggered a minimum of one shipper to quickly droop the voyages of three freshly loaded shipments totalling nearly 6 million barrels of Venezuela’s flagship export grade, Merey, sources mentioned.
