CARACAS: State oil company of Venezuela Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) said that it guarantees that all operations performed in its docks and terminals, including crude oil export, cabotage maneuvers and purchase of inputs for oil production were normal.
According to PDVSA’s Vice President of Refining, Trade and Supply of the national oil company, Jesus Luongo, said that the company guarantees “absolute normality of operations” and that the payment is being carried out via open account, credit cards and pre-payment “in agreement with our suppliers.”
The announcement comes on the back of media reports saying that shipowners and oil providers were refusing to unload cargo until they received pre-payment from PDVSA resulting in tanker queues off Venezuela.
Over a dozen oil tankers were reported to had been queuing at Venezuelan ports pending payment before they unload, Reuters reported.
Luongo said that only at the docks and terminals of the Orinoco Oil Belt a total of 3,058 ships per year are handled which is an average of 255 per month. Of this amount only 16 bring oil for local production, he explained.
