A floating facility present off the Venezuelan coast has reportedly completed the offloading of crude that was stored in for the last two years due to sanctions imposed by the U.S.

An official operator of the facility has apparently stated that this offloading activity has paved way for output to continue in an oilfield.

The operations to take out crude from the Nabarima offloading and floating storage facility, which was anchored in the eastern part of Gulf of Paria close to the maritime border of Trinidad and Tobago, were initiated in December. The crude storage was conducted there since 2019 when the U.S. posed sanctions on Venezuela.

The Nabarima is included in the Petrosucre joint venture between Italy’s Eni and PDVSA, the Venezuelan state oil company. It operates on the Corocoro offshore oil field.

Last year, it suffered some mechanical problems which resulted it in its tilting, raising issues from environmental groups in Brazil and Trinidad.

Petrosucre President Joe Romero apparently tweeted that the company has completed the crude offload operation of FSO Nabarima to continue the production of oil in the offshore field in the Paria Gulf.

Eni and PDVSA did not respond for comments on the offloading activity. PDVSA is finding it difficult to repair and maintain their facilities owing to a massive shortage of cash-flow, and the U.S sanctions have aggravated the situation.

PDVSA and Eni previously sold the Petrosucre-produced crude to Citgo, a Venezuelan refining company. But the supply contract was stopped midway by the sanctions imposed two years ago. This inactivated the project and the crude produced was stranded in Nabarima.

The U.S sanctioned Venezuela so that their President, Nicolas Maduro and his companions are unable to earn profits from state-owned oil operations, illegal gold mining and other activities which would enable human rights abuses and crimes in the nation.

 

Source Credits:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-oil-vessel/sanctions-hit-venezuelan-facility-completes-offloading-of-stored-crude-idUSKBN2BW0CX