Two Chinese supertankers, which were en route to Venezuela to load crude oil to repay state debt, have changed course and are returning to Asia. According to LSEG shipping monitoring data published on Monday, the vessels turned around amid the ongoing oil embargo imposed by the US against the OPEC member country. This is reported by UNN.
Details
The VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier) oil tankers "Xingye" and "Thousand Sunny" had been anchored in the Atlantic Ocean for several weeks. The vessels were awaiting instructions amid the blockade and political crisis caused by the US seizure of President Nicolas Maduro.
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Last week, the Donald Trump administration announced a $2 billion deal to export 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil accumulated in storage. Despite Trump's statement that China would not be denied access to this raw material, Beijing has not received shipments since last month. Washington insists that the energy embargo remains fully in effect.
Debt obligations and logistical deadlock
These tankers are part of a special group of vessels that exclusively serve the Venezuela-China route. This logistical scheme was created to repay Caracas' multi-billion dollar debt to Beijing. After the US sanctions were imposed in 2019, the parties agreed on a temporary agreement under which loan servicing is carried out through direct oil supplies.
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Currently, China remains the main market for Venezuelan oil, but increased pressure from the US calls into question the further functioning of the "oil for debt" mechanism. The turnaround of the tankers indicates the actual cessation of regular shipments under existing contracts due to the risks of violating the sanctions regime.