US to temporarily store Venezuelan oil in Curaçao

An oil tanker from Venezuela has docked at the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, where the feedstock will be temporarily placed into storage as instructed by the US government, NOS television said.

Two of the world’s largest commodity traders, Trafigura and Vitol, are involved in moving Venezuelan oil to Caribbean countries for further resale. To this end, they plan to store oil batches in Curaçao and the Bahamas. 

There are four tankers near the Venezuelan coast at present, NOS said. Trafigura and Vitol are expected to receive in total about 4.8 mln barrels of Venezuelan oil for further deliveries to storage facilities in the Caribbean.

The arrival of Venezuelan oil meets the interests of Curaçao, which wants to restore the role of the island in international energy logistics. 

The local government puts its stake on storage, transshipment and logistics with the use of existing infrastructure amid the island’s biggest refinery being idle for more than five years, with huge investments needed for its restart.