Venezuelan crude cargo heads to Spain after 10-day halt

MEXICO CITY/MADRID: At least one cargo of Venezuelan oil is heading for Europe after a 10-day halt in crude flows across the Atlantic from state-run PDVSA, brought on by U.S. sanctions against President Nicolas Maduro, Refinitiv Eikon data showed on Thursday.

The Panamax tanker LR1 Ambassador took on the 500,000-barrel cargo of heavy crude at Jose port in northern Venezuela on Jan. 29, one day after the administration of Donald Trump imposed sanctions on PDVSA.

It is bound for La Coruna in northern Spain, home to a 120,000-barrel per day refinery operated by Spanish oil and gas firm Repsol. Repsol declined to comment on the cargo.

Since Venezuela's oil-rich economy sank into crisis, Repsol has taken payment from PDVSA for some of its obligations, including delayed dividends, in the form of cargoes.

The Spanish company has been receiving PDVSA's oil regularly in recent months, according to a source with knowledge of the matter and the Eikon data.

By preventing U.S. companies from making payments to PDVSA, the sanctions aim to freeze proceeds from the roughly 500,000 barrels per day of crude Venezuela exports to the United States. The measures also put obstacles in the way of transactions made by companies with U.S. units or using dollars.

At least two other cargoes of refined fuel from PDVSA have also set sail for Europe, but it is not clear who the recipients will be.

Many European Union member states have joined Trump in recognising Venezuela's National Assembly head Juan Guaido as interim president.

The bloc is considering imposing more sanctions to add to a weapons embargo and other restrictions it slapped on Venezuela in November 2017, but has not discussed an oil embargo, Malta said this week.

Repsol said in October its total financial exposure to Venezuela, including equity, loans and receivables, totalled 800 million euros ($908 million).