UAE Has Become The Hub For Venezuela To Evade US Oil Sanctions

Tankers managed by the three firms have transported millions of barrels of oil produced by state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA [Hartmut Knape/Reuters]

Each week, we discover sophisticated methods to hide oil shipments, but this week the prize goes to ALSATAYIR (IMO 9308845), an Aframax crude oil tanker that is about to load 700K barrels of oil in Venezuela. All they did was paint over "AL" and "YIR". #OOTT🏆 pic.twitter.com/huWTMCOKRu

— TankerTrackers.com, Inc.⚓️🛢 (@TankerTrackers) December 29, 2020

Reuters: Special Report: UAE emerges as hub for companies helping Venezuela avoid U.S. oil sanctions 

NEW YORK (Reuters) - In June, the United States imposed sanctions on half a dozen oil tankers managed by established shipping firms. It was a major escalation of American attempts to choke off Venezuela’s oil trade. 

Within weeks, a little-known company based in the United Arab Emirates took over management of several tankers that had been shipping Venezuelan oil. The vessels got new names. And then they resumed transporting Venezuelan crude.  

The company, Muhit Maritime FZE, is one of three UAE-based entities identified by Reuters that have shipped Venezuelan crude and fuel during the second half of this year. Their role emerges from an examination of internal shipping documents from Venezuela’s state oil company as well as third-party shipping and vessel tracking data. Tankers managed by the firms have transported millions of barrels of oil produced by state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, since June, according to the internal documents and a publicly available shipping database. 

Read more .... 

Update #1: UAE Identified As "Hub" For Companies Helping Venezuela Evade US Oil Sanctions (Zero Hedge) 

Update #2: UAE a hub for firms helping Venezuela avoid US sanctions: Report (Al Jazeera) 

WNU Editor: I am sure the UAE is not the only country that is being used by Venezuela to evade US oil sanctions.

U.S. Hits Chinese Defense Firm CEIEC With Sanctions For Conducting Business With The Venezuelan Government

The U.S. is sanctioning PRC tech firm CEIEC for enabling the Maduro regime’s efforts to undermine democracy in Venezuela. Their support to restrict internet service and conduct digital surveillance against political opponents is robbing Venezuelans of a democratic future.

— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 30, 2020

Reuters: U.S. imposes Venezuela-related sanctions targeting Chinese firm 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States imposed sanctions on Monday on Chinese firm China National Electronics Import & Export Corporation (CEIEC), accusing it of supporting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s efforts to undermine democracy. 

The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement the Chinese company supported the leftist government of Maduro in its “efforts to restrict internet service and conduct digital surveillance and cyber operations against political opponents.” 

“The United States will not hesitate to target anyone helping to suppress the democratic will of the Venezuelan people and others around the world,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement. 

Read more .... 

 More News On U.S. Hits Chinese Defense Firm CEIEC With Sanctions For Conducting Business With The Venezuelan Government 

US hits Chinese firm CEIEC with sanctions over Venezuela -- SCMP 

US sanctions Chinese company for conducting business with Maduro regime -- The Hill 

US sanctions Chinese tech firm for doing business with 'illegitimate Maduro regime' in Venezuela -- RT

U.S. Pressuring Maritime Companies To Stop Venezuela's Oil Exports

An oil tanker outside the Puerto La Cruz oil refinery in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, where US sanctions have driven Venezuela's oil exports to their lowest levels in nearly 80 years and left the country short of cash for food and medicine [File: Alexandra Ulmer/Reuters]

Reuters: Exclusive: U.S. turns screws on maritime industry to cut off Venezuela's oil

LONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Several companies that certify vessels are seaworthy and ship insurers have withdrawn services to tankers involved in the Venezuelan oil trade as the United States targets the maritime industry to tighten sanctions on the Latin American country.

U.S. sanctions have driven Venezuela’s oil exports to their lowest levels in nearly 80 years, starving President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government of its main source of revenue and leaving authorities short of cash for essential imports such as food and medicine.

The sanctions are part of U.S. efforts to weaken Maduro’s grip on power after Washington and other Western democracies accused him of rigging a 2018 re-election vote. Despite the country’s economic collapse, Maduro has held on and frustrated the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: We shall see .... Trump Visits SOUTHCOM, Warns ‘Something Will Happen’ in Venezuela (Venezuelanalysis).

More News On The U.S. Pressuring Maritime Companies To Stop Venezuela's Oil Exports

U.S. Ups Pressure To Push Venezuela Oil Exports To Zero -- OilPrice.com
US squeezes Venezuela oil by pressuring maritime companies -- Al Jazeera
Report: New players help Maduro evade tanker sanctions -- Canadian Press
Veteran U.S. diplomat Richardson to meet Maduro to discuss jailed Americans -- Reuters

Oil Tankers Turn Away From Venezuela As More Sanctions Loom

The Iranian tanker 'Fortune' iat El Palito refinery dock in Venezuela. © Reuters / Miraflores Palace

Reuters: Exclusive: Oil tankers turn away from Venezuela as more sanctions loom

MEXICO CITY/LONDON (Reuters) - Oil tankers that were sailing toward Venezuela have turned around and others have left the country’s waters as the United States considers blacklisting dozens of ships for transporting Venezuelan oil, according to shipping data and industry sources.

The threat of tighter sanctions is already disrupting the global shipping market. Chinese oil firms are considering whether to decline to charter any tanker that has visited Venezuela in the past year, no matter where the ship is now or for what voyage, four shipping sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

Washington is seeking to oust the socialist government of President Nicolas Maduro by choking the oil exports that provide its main source of income. The measures have contributed to a fall in Venezuelan oil exports to a 17-year low and deepened the country’s economic crisis, but Maduro has held on - to the frustration of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

Read more ....

Update #1: US sets plan to expand sanctions against tankers (FOX News/WSJ)
Update #2: U.S. Set to Sanction Dozens of Tankers Over Venezuela-Iran Oil Trade (GCaptain/Bloomberg)

WNU Editor: It looks like some Chinese companies are getting the message .... Chinese firms may halt use of oil tankers that visited Venezuela (Al Jazeera).

Top Democrats in Congress Want To Ease Sanctions On Iran, Venezuela, And Other Countries Hit Hard By The Pandemic

People attend a protest in Washington, DC against United States sanctions on Iran, where the death toll from COVID-19 is approaching 1,300 [File: Carlos Barria/Reuters]

Foreign Policy: Democrats Push Back on Sanctions, Citing Coronavirus Fears

They want waivers to speed medical supplies and humanitarian aid to Iran and other sanctioned nations hit hard by the pandemic.

Top Democrats in Congress are urging the Trump administration to ease sanctions on Iran, Venezuela, and other countries badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic, citing the need to provide medical supplies and humanitarian support.

In a stream of several letters aimed at Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top U.S. officials, Democratic members of Congress including presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are pushing for the administration to grant clearly outlined waivers from American sanctions.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy also spearheaded a call by several Democrats to the Trump administration to ease U.S. sanctions against countries, including Iran and Venezuela, hit hard by coronavirus, saying the measures are hampering the free flow of medicines and other humanitarian supplies to the neediest as the pandemic worsens.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Lifting oil and banking sanctions on governments who have a have a history of brutality against their own citizens while actively working hard at destabilizing their neighbouring countries will fail. The onus is on these governments to step up first and outline what they will do if sanctions are released. In the case of Venezuela and their request for a $5 billion IMF loan, they gave no specifics on what they would do with the money. Just generalities. In the case of Iran, doubly so. As for North Korea, President Trump's proposal for direct help was not taken up .... North Korea: Trump letter offers coronavirus cooperation (Al Jazeera).

This Is How Venezuela Is Breaking U.S. Oil Sanctions

OilPrice.com: Venezuela Is Using Invisible Oil Tankers To Skirt Sanctions

U.S. sanctions on Venezuela have been squeezing the life out of its economy in an attempt to remove the government of Nicolas Maduro from power, but so far those sanctions haven’t been entirely successful. The reason: Venezuela is still exporting oil.

So far in November, according to OilX data, Venezuela has exported an average of 530,000 bpd, up from 523,000 bpd in October.

Bloomberg reports, citing shipping data, that Venezuela had loaded almost 11 million barrels of crude in just the first 11 days of November, which is more than twice as much as it did in the same period last month. Most of the oil seems to have gone to India and China, with half of the vessels transporting it turning their transponders off to avoid detection.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The oil that Venezuela is currently exporting (at a discount) is primarily being used to pay-off its massive debts. The benefits that Venezuela gets from this trade is (I suspect) minuscule at best.

U.S. Freezes All Venezuelan Government Assets. Announces Total Economic Embargo

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks during a ceremony to commemorate the Bicentennial of the Battle in the Vargas Swamp at the National Pantheon in Caracas, Venezuela July 25, 2019. Miraflores Palace/Handout via REUTERS

Reuters: Trump freezes all Venezuelan government assets in bid to pressure Maduro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a freeze on all Venezuelan government assets in the United States on Monday, sharply escalating an economic and diplomatic pressure campaign aimed at removing socialist President Nicolas Maduro from power.

The executive order signed by Trump goes well beyond the sanctions imposed in recent months against Venezuela’s state-run oil company PDVSA [PDVSA.UL] and the country’s financial sector, as well as measures against dozens of Venezuelan officials and entities.

Trump’s action, the toughest yet against Maduro, not only bans U.S. companies from dealings with the Venezuela government but also appears to open the door to possible sanctions against foreign firms or individuals that assist it.

Russian and Chinese companies are among those still doing significant business in the South American OPEC nation.

Read more ....

Update #1: Trump freezes all Venezuelan government assets in US (The Guardian/AP)
Update #2: Trump announces total economic embargo against Venezuela (CNN)

WNU Editor: This puts Venezuela on the same sanctions list as Iran, Cuba, Syria, and North Korea.

Russia And China Condemn U.S. Sanctions On Venezuelan Oil

Daily Mail: Russia condemns 'illegal' US sanctions on Venezuelan oil and China warns against 'external interference' amid warnings the South American country faces 'imminent open war'

* Moscow slam US sanctions against Venezuela's state oil company as 'illegal'
* Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said they 'violate all possible international norms'
* Lavrov promised that Russia will 'do everything to support President Maduro'
* China warned US sanctions will complicate the situation in the crisis-hit country
* Opposition leader Juan Guaido said he hoped for a peaceful transition, but echoed US President Donald Trump when he said 'all options are on the table'
* Ex-President of Uruguay José Mujica said Venezuela faces 'imminent open war'
* Mujica said Trump declaring a military option as on the table had 'the smell of oil'

Russia has condemned US sanctions against Venezuela's state oil company as 'illegal' while China has warned they will hurt the livelihoods of ordinary people and complicate the situation in the crisis-hit country.

The sanctions will hit state-owned PDVSA, Venezuela's largest source of revenue, as President Nicolas Maduro faces a challenge from opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has won the backing of the US and other Western nations.

The warnings from Beijing have been echoed by the former president of Uruguay, José Mujica, who said 'the drums of war are sounding strong,' and that Venezuela is facing 'imminent open conflict'.

Read more ....

Update: Russia and China condemn new US sanctions on Venezuela (CNBC)

WNU Editor: The Russians are upset over U.S. sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA because they own 49% of the company, and now their investment is tied-up. Russia is also facing the sobering reality that their debts may not be repaid .... Russia expects Venezuela will struggle to repay its debts to Moscow (Reuters). More here .... Russia expects Venezuela to have trouble repaying loan (AP). As for the Chinese who are owed even more money .... China says US should bear consequences of Venezuela sanctions (Straits Times).

Washington Imposes New Sanctions On Venezuela's Cryptocurrency

President Trump has signed an executive order banning US citizens from buying Venezuela's newly created cryptocurrency, the petro -- the world's first sovereign digital currency https://t.co/KIYJ3kZ3F6 pic.twitter.com/tGTtDPErHf

— CNN International (@cnni) March 19, 2018

Miami Herald: Washington aims at Venezuela’s cryptocurrency in new round of sanctions

BOGOTA, Colombia: The White House on Monday continued tightening financial sanctions on Venezuela, banning U.S. citizens from using the Petro, the socialist administration’s newly launched cryptocurrency.

The presidential executive order, which went into effect at 12:15 p.m. on Monday, prohibits Americans from dealing in “any digital currency, digital coin, or digital token” issued by Venezuela after January 9, 2018.

Venezuela launched the Petro last month, and President Nicolás Maduro had touted the initiative as a way to raise international financing amid Washington’s crackdown.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This analysis is spot on .... Maduro's cryptocurrency scam will fail with or without sanctions (Dany Bahar, The Hill).

More News On Washington Imposing New Sanctions On Venezuela's Cryptocurrency

White House Bans Venezuela's Digital Currency and Imposes Further Sanctions -- New York Times
Trump Prohibits U.S. Purchases of Venezuelan Cryptocurrency -- Bloomberg
U.S. bans transactions with Venezuela's digital currency -- Reuters
Trump issues action blocking Venezuela cryptocurrencies within US -- CNBC

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: U.S. Considering Oil Sanctions Targeting Venezuela

Reuters: Tillerson raises specter of U.S. sanctions on Venezuelan oil

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - The United States is considering restricting imports of Venezuelan crude oil and exports of U.S. refined products to Venezuela, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday, to put pressure on socialist President Nicolas Maduro to “return to the constitution.”

“One of the aspects of considering sanctioning oil is what effect would it have on the Venezuelan people? Is it a step that might bring this to an end more rapidly?” Tillerson said at a news conference in Buenos Aires, referring to Venezuela’s economic and political crisis.

Tillerson, on a Latin America trip that also includes visits to Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Jamaica, raised eyebrows on Friday after he suggested that Maduro could be toppled by his own military.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: Venezuela will scramble to find other markets. But if these sanctions are implemented, no oil service company is going to touch Venezuela. And while Venezuela will still continue to pump oil, it is inevitable that breakdowns and halts in production will occur. Bottom line .... it will take time but this is going to hurt Venezuela's ability to make money on its oil.

More News On U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's Remarks That The Is U.S. Considering Oil Sanctions Targeting Venezuela

Tillerson Says US Weighing Sanctions on Venezuelan Oil Sector -- Bloomberg
Tillerson says U.S. still considering Venezuela oil sale restrictions -- CBS/AP
Tillerson: US might put pressure on Venezuela by restricting oil sales -- The Hill
Tillerson: US Considering Venezuela Oil Embargo -- Sputnik International