A tanker fleet loaded with Venezuelan crude remains stuck in the Gulf of Mexico by US sanctions

A fleet loaded with some seven million barrels of Venezuelan oil has been formed in the Gulf of Mexico, some with supplies acquired prior to the most recent US sanctions against Venezuela and others whose buyers determine who must pay, according to operators and Refinitiv's Eikon data.

Donald Trump's government decision last week impose sanctions on Venezuela It aimed to undermine support for President Nicolás Maduro by targeting oil exports from the country of Latin America to the United States., source of the majority of your income from abroad.

The sanctions are aimed at preventing US refineries from paying on Maduro government-controlled PDVSA accounts, one of the reasons why many tankers wait in limbo in front of Venezuela without the payments being clear. The United States buys about 500,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude a day.

US customers of PDVSA belonging to the Venezuelan State they are obliged under pain of depositing payments in guarantee accounts that have not yet been created. The funds will be controlled by the head of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, which has been recognized by the United States, the European Union and much of Latin America as the country's interim president.

More than a dozen oil tankers anchored this week in the Gulf of Mexico or outside Venezuelan waters, according to Refinitiv's Eikon, due to the fact that shipping companies are waiting for the payment and delivery of buyers' instructions.

Operators said some of the shipments were used as floating storage by buyers who had taken advantage of PDVSA's open market sales before sanctions. Others have been retained by commercial companies that they find it difficult to find refineries willing to accept oil because of the payment difficulties badociated with the sanctions.

The vessels had been contracted by regular buyers of Venezuelan oil to the United States, including Chevron Corp., Refining Unit of PDVSA Citgo Petroleum and Valero Energyand the brokerage houses that sell to refineries.

Although PDVSA has said that for the moment It will only sell to customers who pay in advance for shipments of oil.

With Reuters information