Less than two months after the United States eased sanctions on Venezuela in South America, a group of large tankers loaded with Venezuelan fuel oil have arrived in Asia, threatening to shake up the region’s energy markets.
Three large crude oil tankers (VLCCs), each capable of carrying up to 2 million barrels, loaded and unloaded Venezuelan fuel oil in Southeast Asia in November, according to ship tracking data from Bloomberg and other sources.
After the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Venezuela in 2019, independent Chinese refiners were the main buyers of Venezuelan crude oil and fuel oil. However, now that sanctions have been eased,IndiaThere is growing interest mainly in The fuel oil used to power ships is refined in Venezuela, but is typically processed in Asia into bitumen (an extractable organic material) or used as a feedstock for lower-quality diesel oil.
Route of a large crude oil tanker (VLCC) loaded with Venezuelan fuel oil
Celina Huang, lead analyst for Asia at research firm Vortexa, said the volumes of Venezuelan fuel oil arriving in Asia are still relatively small and “unlikely to significantly move fuel oil prices in the region.” .
But as the country ramps up oil production, price-sensitive buyers in India and China could increase purchases from Venezuela as long as prices remain low, traders said. These buyers have a history of actively purchasing Russian crude oil in the early days of the invasion of Ukraine.
Much of the Venezuelan fuel oil offloaded in Southeast Asia will end up in China, said Ivan Matthews, head of Asia refining and global fuel oil at FGE.
news-rsf-original-reference paywall">Original title:Sudden Influx of Venezuelan Fuel Oil Shaking Up Asian Markets(excerpt)
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2023-12-13 06:23:07
