Transfer of Iranian oil tankers to Venezuela continues

The country with the largest oil reserves in the world is experiencing a deep fuel crisis. Venezuela, which in the past used to refine enough oil to cover its needs, is now turning to its Iranian ally to provide it with sufficient fuel.

This Wednesday a new oil tanker from the Islamic Republic entered Venezuelan waters, the second ship to arrive in the Caribbean country this week. According to the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, another ship is expected to arrive in Venezuela on 4 October.
According to data from Marine Traffic, a website specialised in tracking ships, the ship arrived on Wednesday night and transferred the fuel to the El Palito refinery in the state of Carabobo.

On the same day, Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan president, announced the recovery of two refineries: "Venezuela is already producing everything it needs for domestic consumption. Two refineries have already been built despite the brutal attack" by the United States, Maduro said.
The sanctions imposed by the US government have restricted the capacity of PDVSA, the state oil company, to import fuel from international markets.

This week Caracas began the countdown marked by US sanctions to end oil exports to several companies, a measure that is expected to have a strong impact on the Caribbean country's economy.

In mid-August, US authorities seized four tankers allegedly carrying gasoline from Iran to Venezuela, according to Reuters. Official sources, according to the agency, said the ships were seized peacefully and the cargo they were carrying was transferred to other vessels for shipment to the United States.

The seizure order was taken by Tehran as an act of piracy, and the spokesman for Iran's United Nations office, Alireza Miryousefi, said that "any attempt on the high seas to prevent Iran from engaging in legal trade with any country it chooses will be an act of piracy, pure and simple".
The first Iranian supply to the Caribbean country came in May last year, when five tankers carrying 1.5 million barrels arrived at Puerto Cabello.

Venezuela is the country with the largest number of oil reserves in the world, but the crisis it has suffered over the last two decades, which has led to misery for much of the population and even to rationing and selling petrol on the black market, has led it to seek oil outside the country. As a result of these actions, Donald Trump, the US president, has decided on several occasions to extend the sanctions against the Iranian regime for supplying hydrocarbons to Caracas.