Supertankers Resume Venezuelan Oil Exports After Standstill

At least two supertankers, not under sanctions, were departing Venezuelan waters on Monday carrying crude, according to monitoring service Tankertrackers.com and shipping records from state-run company PDVSA seen by Reuters.

Venezuela's oil exports had remained at an almost complete standstill since mid-December, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced a blockade of all sanctioned vessels going in and out the OPEC country's waters.

U.S. forces intercepted and seized five Venezuela-linked vessels as a way to pressure the government, and captured President Nicolas Maduro in an audacious raid in early January.

In recent days, Washington has started to draft a $100 billion reconstruction plan for Venezuela's oil industry, beginning with a 50-million-barrel deal to supply Venezuelan crude to the U.S. and other markets.

The Panama-flagged very large crude carriers Kelly and Marbella, controlled by PDVSA as part of its ships under lease, set sail from PDVSA's Amuay anchorage area on Venezuela's western coast. They are carrying about 1.8 million barrels each of Venezuelan Merey heavy crude, the shipping records showed.

Their intended destinations and whether the cargoes were part of the flagship supply deal announced by Trump were not immediately clear.

PDVSA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Global