St Lucia terminal resumes role in Venezuelan oil trade routes
CASTRIES, St. Lucia — Venezuelan oil has begun entering Caribbean storage terminals, publicly signaling a shift in regional trade flows after years of restricted exports, according to a Bloomberg report published by Yahoo Finance.
Bloomberg reported that two tankers delivered roughly 2.5 million barrels of Venezuelan Merey crude over the weekend to storage tanks in St Lucia and Curacao, which are being used as staging points for wider exports. Additional vessels are expected to bring Venezuelan oil to other Caribbean destinations, including the Bahamas, in the coming days.
The renewed activity follows intervention by the Trump administration, which tapped trading firms Trafigura Group and Vitol Group to help market Venezuelan oil and encouraged United States energy companies to invest in reviving the country’s battered oil sector. Bloomberg said the policy shift has disrupted shipping markets, pushing freight rates higher on some routes.
The report noted that several so-called dark fleet tankers previously involved in Venezuelan oil shipments have switched on their tracking transponders as they prepare to discharge cargo, while vessels that had avoided the trade are returning to participate.
One such tanker, the Volans, an Aframax vessel sanctioned by the United States and the United Kingdom, unloaded about 600,000 barrels of crude at Curacao on Jan. 17, according to ship-tracking data cited by Bloomberg. The oil was discharged at the Bullen Bay storage facility and was carried on behalf of Vitol.
Another vessel, the Kelly, a very large crude carrier, arrived in Castries on Jan. 18 carrying approximately 1.9 million barrels of Merey crude. Bloomberg reported that the shipment marked the first delivery of Venezuelan oil to St Lucia since December 2018, citing data from Kpler and Vortexa.
Castries hosts a major storage terminal primarily operated by Buckeye Partners LP, a Houston-headquartered energy infrastructure company that manages marine storage facilities across the region. Bloomberg said it was unable to identify the entity directly responsible for the oil trade. Buckeye Partners said in a statement that it is helping bring Venezuelan crude to market safely and responsibly while operating in accordance with all applicable laws.
Additional Venezuelan oil shipments are already in motion. Bloomberg reported that the supertanker Marbella arrived at South Riding Point in the Bahamas on Jan. 19 carrying about 1.9 million barrels of crude, while another vessel, Rene, is due to arrive later this week with more than 1.7 million barrels.
Before Washington’s intervention, Venezuela relied heavily on dark-fleet tankers to export oil, with most shipments heading to China, a major buyer of bitumen-rich grades such as Merey. Venezuela’s oil production has declined sharply in recent years, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, as years of sanctions, underinvestment, and operational challenges reduced output and export capacity.
Market participants are closely watching tanker movements for signs of sustained activity. Bloomberg reported that the tanker Gloria Maris recently signaled it was bound for Venezuela’s José export terminal, indicating growing openness among ship operators involved in the trade.
