US to Open Access to Venezuela Oil to More Traders, Refiners (1)

The US government plans to allow more trading companies beyond Vitol Group and Trafigura Group to purchase Venezuelan crude, a Trump administration official said.

The pending authorization, expected to involve a general license easing existing sanctions, would require all Venezuelan oil supply deals to pass through the US market, the official said.

The decision marks a shift from the approach used for as much as 50 million barrels of oil in an initial tranche of Venezuelan deliveries after the US captured President Nicolás Maduro. That oil had built up in storage tanks and vessels over several weeks under a ...