PDVSA documents and shipping data reported tankers carrying nearly two months’ worth of Venezuelan oil output are stuck at sea. To deprive the government of Nicolas Maduro of its main source of revenue and cut the country’s oil exports, the US is tightening sanctions.
In more than 70 years, Venezuela’s exports are hovering near their most depressed levels. The country’s economy has collapsed. For trading and transporting state-run PDVSA’s oil, the US has blacklisted ships and merchants this month. Washington threatened to add more to its list of sanctioned entities.
As buyers shun them to avoid falling foul of sanctions, Refinitiv Eikon data showed at least 16 tankers are stuck at sea around the globe, carrying 18.1 million barrels of Venezuelan oil. At Venezuela’s current production rate, that is the equivalent of almost two months of output. Some of the vessels have sailed to several ports and have been at sea for more than six months but failed to unload.
