Trading houses and buyers of Venezuelan crude oil are chartering very large crude carriers (VLCCs) for the first time since a new Caracas-Washington supply deal began, a development expected to boost deliveries to India. VLCCs are among the largest tankers in the world, with a capacity of up to 2 million barrels per voyage, and their use can significantly reduce transportation costs and speed up shipments compared with smaller tankers.
According to shipping data and sources, at least three VLCCs, Nissos Kea, Nissos Kythnos and Arzanah, chartered by trading firms Vitol and Trafigura have been assigned March loading windows at Venezuela’s main oil export terminal in José, operated by state-owned PDVSA. These vessels are expected to deliver crude to India. Another supertanker, Olympic Lion, was also signalling Venezuela as its destination with an expected late-March arrival.
Previously, most Venezuelan crude exports moved in Panamax and Aframax tankers, which carry between 450,000 and 700,000 barrels, mainly to U.S. refineries, while Suezmax vessels handled shipments to Caribbean storage hubs. The shift to VLCCs could help deplete the large volumes of crude currently stored in Venezuela more rapidly and alleviate the global shortage of smaller tankers.
