Documents from the state-owned Venezuelan Oil Company showed that a tanker chartered by the National Iranian Oil Company was being loaded with a shipment of Venezuelan crude for export, providing more evidence of the two countries’ latest tactics to expand their trade in defiance of US sanctions.
Venezuela and Iran deepened their cooperation this year, with the South American country swapping gold and other goods for Iranian food, condensate and fuel.
Customers of PDVSA, including the National Iranian Oil Company, use the names of scrap tankers to hide the routes and identities of the tankers they use.
The documents showed that a giant oil tanker, the loading documents of the Venezuelan oil company named Nadros, arrived at the main oil port of Jose in Venezuela last week to be loaded with a shipment of 1.9 million barrels of Meri 16 heavy crude sent to Asia.
The PDVSA, Venezuela’s Oil Ministry and the National Iranian Oil Company did not respond to requests for comment. The US Treasury declined to comment.
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