Refinitiv Eikon data revealed on Friday that a 650,000-barrel shipment of Venezuelan oil chartered by Italy’s Eni is due to make sail, transporting the first petroleum export from the US-sanctioned country to Europe in two years.
In May, the US State Department released letters to Eni and Repsol, allowing them to continue accepting Venezuelan crude as a mechanism to settle billions of dollars in outstanding debt and dividends due by the OPEC member.
According to Eikon data and a shipping document seen by reporters, a second tanker chartered by Eni, the very large crude carrier Pantanassa, is currently navigating towards Venezuela and is expected to load 2 million barrels of the same grade, diluted crude oil, and transport it to Europe.
According to the document and sources, Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA is likely to deliver the cargo later this month, with Eni having the option to sell a portion of the crude to Repsol for its Cartagena and Bilbao refineries.
According to the document, the Malta-flagged Pantanassa will load through ship-to-ship transfer near Venezuela’s Amuay port.
Requests for comment from Eni, Repsol, and PDVSA were not immediately returned.
Venezuela’s oil exports in May fell to their lowest level in 19 months as a result of PDVSA’s contract revisions, which required most spot sales to be converted to prepayment, decreasing the risk of unpaid cargoes. Customers with debt payment swap agreements were unaffected by the move.
Since the government of then-US President Donald Trump suspended oil swaps used to exchange Venezuelan oil for fuel and debt payments, European, Asian, and US companies operating joint ventures with PDVSA in Venezuela, including Eni, Repsol, Chevron, ONGC Ltd, and Maurel & Prom, have accumulated billions of dollars in pending debt.
