Page 4 - LatAmOil Week 33

LatAmOil COMMENTARY LatAmOil

The Forest was the first tanker of Iranian fuel to arrive in Venezuela in May (Photo: Maritime Executive)

US nabs Venezuela’s Iranian fuel

Trump administration pulls off largest-ever seizure of Iranian petroleum products

THE US government revealed on August 14 that there,” Trump said. “We’re moving them, and
it had confiscated four Iranian fuel shipments moved, to Houston.”
WHAT: bound for Venezuela.
Four tankers loaded with The US Justice Department said the seized US stance
Iranian fuel are now in US cargo was now in US custody “with the assis- Trump also asserted that Iran should not be
custody. tance of foreign partners.” It added that the sending cargoes to Venezuela. “Iran’s not sup-
amount confiscated from four tankers was posed to be doing that,” he said.
WHY: approximately 1.116mn barrels of fuel, making This was in line with his past statements on
Venezuela and Iran it the largest-ever US seizure of Iranian petro- the matter. Officials in Washington had taken
have drawn closer, as leum products. much the same stance in May, when Tehran
both have been hit with As of press time, it was not clear where the succeeded in sending a flotilla of tankers laden
sanctions by the US ships were at the time of the confiscation. All of with Iranian gasoline to fuel-starved Venezuela.
government. the vessels involved had turned off their satel- The latter country – which is, like the Islamic
lite-tracking systems in order to avoid detection, Republic, enduring crushing US sanctions – has
WHAT NEXT: according to data compiled by Bloomberg. become a strategic ally to Iran.
The US government is Speaking at a White House news conference As such, the arrival of the Iranian fuel served
not likely to lift the trade following the announcement that the Iranian as something of an embarrassment to the US
restrictions any time fuel had been seized, US President Donald government, which sent several military vessels
soon. Trump stated that the seized shipments were to the Caribbean soon afterward, ostensibly on
now bound for Houston, Texas, and suggested a counter-narcotics mission. The seizure of the
they may have already arrived. latest shipments goes some way towards reliev-
“They’re going to Houston. And they’re ing that pressure.

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 33 19•August•2020