(Bloomberg, 22.Jan.2021) — It may be the oil market’s worst-kept secret: Millions of barrels of Venezuelan heavy crude, embargoed by the U.S., have been surreptitiously going to China. The cat-and-mouse games that avoid detection and sanctions include ship-to-ship transfers, shell companies and silenced satellite signals. But there’s another aspect to […]
Tag: Libre Abordo
Venezuela Defies Sanction Tripwires, Imports Oil
(Bloomberg, 13.Sep.2020) — An oil tanker is discharging Iranian condensate for Venezuela as both countries continue to avoid U.S. sanction tripwires. The ship, identified as Honey, turned off its satellite signal and started unloading about 2 million barrels of South Pars condensate at Venezuela’s state-controlled port of Jose on Saturday, […]
End Of Venezuela’s Oil Fortune Looms Over Maduro
(Bloomberg, 20.Jun.2020) — Oil revenue, the financial lifeline of Venezuela, is quickly drying up, adding to the growing instability of Nicolas Maduro’s embattled regime. Crude exports that once accounted for 95 percent of foreign currency inflow to the country tumbled by almost half this month, after hitting a 73-year low […]
US Sanctions Mexican Cos. Helping Venezuelan Oil
(Bloomberg, 18.Jun.2020) — The U.S. Treasury Department levied sanctions on Mexican trading company Libre Abordo SA de CV for buying Venezuelan oil via oil-for-humanitarian-aid agreements with the embattled country. Libre Abordo and its affiliate Schlager Business Group purchased 32 million barrels of crude oil this year to become the biggest […]
Treasury Targets Sanctions Evasion Network Supporting Corrupt Venezuelan Actors
(US Department of Treasury, 18.Jun.2020) — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated three individuals and eight foreign entities, and identified two vessels as blocked property for their activities in or associated with a network attempting to evade United States sanctions on Venezuela’s […]
US Sanctions Four Firms For Transporting Venezuelan Oil
(Aljazeera, 2.Jun.2020) — The United States Treasury Department on Tuesday said it had sanctioned four shipping firms for transporting Venezuelan oil, the latest escalation in Washington’s effort to depose socialist President Nicolas Maduro by cutting off the OPEC nation’s crude exports. Marshall Islands-based Afranav Maritime Ltd, Adamant Maritime Ltd and […]
Mexico Probes Libre Abordo Pact With Venezuela
(Reuters, 2.Jun.2020) — The Mexican government’s financial crime department is investigating Libre Abordo, a Mexico-based firm that received millions of barrels of Venezuelan crude under an oil-for-food pact, in a probe coordinated with U.S. agencies, the department’s chief, Santiago Nieto, told Reuters. The Mexican Financial Intelligence Unit is also separately […]
Libre Abordo Announces Bankruptcy
(Reuters, 31.May.2020) — Mexico-based company Libre Abordo said on Sunday it was bankrupt and that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had terminated an oil-for-food agreement that had allowed the firm to supply water trucks in exchange for millions of barrels of Venezuelan crude. Libre Abordo and its related firm Schlager Business […]
FBI Probes Firms Over Venezuela Oil Trading
(Reuters, 13.May.2020) — The FBI is probing several Mexican and European companies allegedly involved in trading Venezuelan oil as it gathers information for a U.S. Treasury Department inquiry into possible sanctions busting, according to four people familiar with the matter. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and special envoy for […]
US Seeks To Investigate Mexico Oil-For-Food Pact
(Reuters, 29.Apr.2020) — The U.S. State Department, the Treasury Department and the U.S. Embassy in Mexico are investigating at least two Mexican firms involved in an oil-for-food pact signed in 2019 with Venezuela’s government, U.S. officials said on Wednesday. Mexico-based Libre Abordo and an affiliated company, Schlager Business Group, have […]