(Reuters) - The second of three Iranian tankers entered Venezuelan waters on Wednesday, carrying fuel for the gasoline-starved nation, which is struggling under a collapsing oil industry and U.S. sanctions that have crippled imports and exports.
The Iran-flagged vessel Fortune reached Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone at 1:45 a.m. local time (0545 GMT), following the same route as the Forest, which docked at Venezuela’s El Palito port on Monday to discharge fuel, according to Refinitiv Eikon tanker tracking data and sources.
The Iranian fuel is desperately needed in the South American country, where long lines of drivers are waiting for gasoline at service stations as domestic production at PDVSA’s refineries remains insufficient to meet demand, contributing to a wave of protests in recent days.
The Forest was expected to discharge 272,000 barrels of fuel, according to a source at El Palito who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The refinery’s fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCC) recently restarted gasoline output and is producing at least 30,000 barrels per day (bpd), two people familiar with the matter said.
The only other refinery producing gasoline in Venezuela is the Cardon refinery in western Falcon state, which restarted its FCC to produce around 25,000 bpd in late September.
The third vessel in the flotilla, the Faxon, is due to arrive later this week to complete a delivery of some 820,000 barrels of Iranian gasoline and other fuels to Venezuela’s state-run PDVSA, according to the data.
The vessels have so far crossed the Atlantic Ocean without any disturbances, according to the data.
PDVSA and Venezuela’s oil ministry did not reply to requests for comment.
Venezuela and Iran, both under U.S. sanctions crippling their oil industries, have strengthened collaboration this year by boosting bilateral trade.
Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Mexico City, Vivian Sequera in Caracas and Tibisay Romero in Valencia, Venezuela; Additional reporting and writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Cynthia Osterman
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September 30, 2020 at 08:28PM
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Second tanker carrying Iranian fuel reaches Venezuelan waters - data - Reuters
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