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Venezuela resumes direct
crude exports to China
POLICY VENEZUELA has reportedly resumed direct Little-known firms like Wanneng Munay
shipments of crude oil to China after more than have emerged in recent months to enable PdVSA
a year of minimal activity. to continue shipping oil to Asia. Several major
The US sanctions regime has driven most of buyers of Venezuelan crude, including India’s
the trade in Venezuelan oil underground since Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Thailand’s
early 2019. However, vessel-tracking data com- Tipco, have suspended shipments, and cash-
piled by Refinitiv Eikon and internal documents strapped PdVSA is suffering as a result. US trade
from Venezuela’s state company PdVSA led Reu- restrictions have only compounded the impact
ters to conclude that Venezuela and China had of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,
restarted direct shipments in August. which has cut global energy demand and oil
The first tanker to bring Venezuelan produc- prices.
tion directly to China was the Kyoto, which loaded The administration of US President Donald
1.8mn barrels of heavy crude in late August, said Trump has been trying to use sanctions on Ven-
the news agency, citing the shipping monitoring ezuela as a means of breaking socialist President
website TankerTrackers.com. The ship, chartered Nicolas Maduro’s grip on power. Washington
by a Russian company called Wanneng Munay, imposed harsh trade restrictions on PdVSA in
allegedly completed most of its voyage with its loca- early 2019 in the hope that the loss of oil reve-
tion transponder switched off. nues might lead Maduro to step down in favour
According to an internal PdVSA document of the interim government led by Juan Guaido,
and Refinitiv Eikon data cited by Reuters, the the head of the political opposition. It has been
Kyoto discharged at China’s Dalian oil terminal enforcing the sanctions regime more strictly this
in early November. Meanwhile, another tanker year, in an effort to topple Maduro more quickly.
called the Warrior King began discharging Ven- The US is traditionally the main destination
ezuelan crude at China’s Bayuquan port around for the Latin American country’s crude exports.
the same time, and two more vessels owned by Oil production levels and export volumes have
state-run PetroChina loaded oil in Venezuela in plunged since PdVSA lost access to the US and
November, the news agency noted. other markets.
Mongolia lockdown delays Petro
Matad licence application
POLICY THE licence application of Mongolia-focused government to review and approve the reserves
Petro Matad has been delayed amid the country’s report for the Heron-1 oil discovery as the next
lockdown in response to the start of COVID- step in the process of awarding the exploration
19 local transmissions, the company said on licence for Block XX. Government appointed
December 4. auditors have already reviewed the report and
Petro Matad previously said it was waiting have forwarded it to the Mineral Resource Pro-
for a confirmed date for a meeting with the fessional Council for a final appraisal.
Week 49 10•December•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13
