Supertankers sailing to pick up Venezuelan oil for China make U-turn: ship data

Two China-flagged supertankers that were ‌sailing to Venezuela to pick up debt-paying crude cargoes ‍amid the US oil embargo on the Opec country have made U-turns and are now heading back to Asia, LSEG shipping data showed on Monday.

Following the US announcement last week of a US$2 billion deal to export up to 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil stuck in storage, US President Donald Trump

said China would not ‍be deprived of Venezuela’s

But the Asian country, the first market of the South American nation’s oil, has not received any cargoes since last month as Washington says the ‌embargo remains in force.

The ⁠vessels are part of a group of three supertankers that only cover the Venezuela-China route to carry crude that pays Venezuela’s debt service to the Asian country.