By Marianna Parraga
Dec 22 (Reuters) – Tanker activity in Venezuela fell on Monday, with most ships now only transporting oil between local ports. This slowdown follows recent U.S. actions against two more ships and ongoing issues for the state-run energy company PDVSA, which is still recovering from a cyberattack, according to tracking data and sources.
This month, the U.S. Coast Guard seized a supertanker under sanctions that was carrying Venezuelan oil and attempted to intercept two other Venezuelan-related vessels over the weekend, U.S. authorities reported. One of these ships is empty and under U.S. sanctions, while the other is an unsanctioned, fully loaded tanker headed for China.
Washington has not released new information about these ships. However, U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of a blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela has put vessel owners on high alert.
Later on Monday, Trump mentioned that the U.S. might keep or possibly sell the oil seized from the coast of Venezuela in recent weeks and stated that the U.S. would retain the seized ships.
Panama’s Foreign Minister Javier Martinez-Acha shared in a TV interview that the supertanker Centuries, which was flying the Panamanian flag when intercepted on Saturday, had violated maritime rules by changing its name and turning off its transponder while transporting oil from Venezuela.
A country that allows its flag to be flown on a vessel can revoke the ship's registration if it is found not to be complying with maritime laws.
Trump’s campaign of pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has included an increased military presence in the region, along with over two dozen military actions against vessels that the U.S. claims are involved in drug trafficking near Venezuela. This has resulted in at least 100 deaths.
On Monday, Trump was asked about his strategy regarding Maduro.
“If he plays tough, it’ll be the last time he’ll ever be able to play tough,” Trump replied.
The recent ship interceptions have significantly affected PDVSA, marking a serious blow since the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the company’s former oil trading firms in 2020, which led to production and export cuts.
By Monday afternoon, Brent crude futures had risen by 2.4% to $61.94 per barrel, while U.S. WTI crude also saw a 2.4% increase, reaching $57.89, influenced by U.S. actions and Russia's ongoing conflict with Ukraine, which has raised supply disruption concerns.
As of Monday, PDVSA had sent a 1.9 million-barrel shipment of heavy crude to the Aruba-flagged sanctioned vessel Azure Voyager at the José port, but no other supertankers were scheduled to load for Asia in the near future, as shown in internal company documents.
The number of loaded tankers that have not yet departed has been rising lately, resulting in millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil stuck on ships, as customers seek deeper discounts and contract changes for risky voyages beyond the country’s waters.
Some tankers approaching Venezuela’s coast to either load oil or deliver imported naphtha have turned back or paused operations recently, waiting for further instructions from their owners about loading, according to LSEG monitoring data.
PDVSA is gradually restoring some online systems but has had to rely on written records due to the recent cyberattack. The company has not fully reestablished its centralized administrative system, leading to delayed salary payments for many workers, sources reported.
PDVSA and Venezuela’s Oil Ministry have not responded to requests for comment. Meanwhile, the country’s Foreign Minister, Yvan Gil, stated on Monday that the U.S. seizures are a violation of international law and amount to “acts of piracy.”
China’s Foreign Ministry also stated on Monday that the recent U.S. interceptions represent a serious breach of international law.
Chevron, PDVSA's main joint-venture partner, managed to export a 500,000-barrel shipment of Venezuelan oil to the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday, utilizing one of its tankers under U.S. authorization, as per LSEG ship data.
Oil Minister Delcy Rodriguez affirmed on Sunday that Venezuela had not interrupted oil deliveries to Chevron.
Chevron has sent seven shipments of Venezuelan oil to the U.S. this month, each ranging from 300,000 to 500,000 barrels, based on monitoring data.
The empty supertanker Bella 1, which the U.S. Coast Guard attempted to intercept on Sunday, was found drifting northeast of Bermuda in the Caribbean on Monday, as shown in a satellite image from TankerTrackers.com.
A U.S. official informed Reuters that the tanker had not been boarded yet, and interceptions might occur in various ways, including sailing or flying close to the targeted vessels.
The tanker Skipper, which was the first vessel seized by the U.S. this month, reached an area near Galveston, Texas, on Sunday for oil cargo transfer, according to maritime sources. Guyana announced last week that the tanker falsely claimed to be using its flag.
Collectively, the tankers Skipper, Centuries, and Bella 1 have exported 41 million barrels of crude and fuel oil from Iran and Venezuela in recent years, as reported by TankerTrackers.com.