(Jan 16): Trafigura Group, one of the large commodity traders tapped by US President Donald Trump to market Venezuelan oil, is preparing to discharge its first cargo after positioning a vessel off the shores of Curacao.
The vessel Regina, which is carrying oil for the trader, reached the island on Wednesday, Curacao Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas said in a post on social media.
The US government tapped Trafigura and Vitol Group’s vast logistical capabilities to market as much as 50 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil after Trump moved to control the country’s oil. The arrival of tankers in the Caribbean islands marks the next step in the process, with the area likely to serve as a staging point for exports.
The vessel Regina “reached our shores to store crude oil, following the decision by the United States government to utilise terminals in the Caribbean for distribution to international markets,” Pisas said in the post.
Trafigura is set to discharge 563,000 barrels of flagship Merey 16, according to documents seen by Bloomberg. Vitol is scheduled to unload 600,000 barrels of the grade. Vitol’s oil is on board the vessel Volans, which is currently off the coast of Venezuela.
The two traders are using the Bullen Bay terminal in Curacao to store oil, Pisas said. Storage facilities in the region are close enough to American fuelmakers and lie along shipping routes to Europe and Asia.
See also: US seizes sixth oil tanker in waters around Venezuela
While Trump-backed tankers are moving crude from Venezuela, the administration continues to ramp up its crackdown on a global shadow fleet used to export sanctioned crude from the South American nation.
US forces seized another oil tanker near Venezuela on Thursday morning. The Defense Department said the ship was subject to US sanctions. The US has seized six ships in roughly the past month, both before and after US forces captured former President Nicolas Maduro.
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