Venezuela to Contract for Two Iran-built Oil Tankers to Expand Fleet
Venezuela will contract with an Iranian shipyard to build two oil tankers under an existing construction agreement bedeviled by payment delays and difficulties with needed certifications, according to people familiar with the matter and documents.Venezuela’s state-run energy firm PDVSA since last year has redoubled efforts to buy and lease oil tankers to rebuild its own fleet. Its maritime operations have suffered from a long-standing lack of capital and U.S. sanctions that have…
Tankers to Discharge Iranian Crude, Condensate at Venezuela's Main Port
Tankers carrying about 1.22 million barrels of Iranian crude and 2 million barrels of condensate are scheduled to discharge at Venezuela's Jose terminal in the coming days, according to a document from state oil company PDVSA.Venezuela relies in Iran for a large portion of the diluents that PDVSA uses to convert its heavy oil to exportable grades. Iranian crude also is being refined in the South American country to produce motor fuels.One of the tankers that arrived this month in Venezuelan waters is the Iran-flagged very large crude carrier (VLCC) Huge, operated by National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), according to the document. Non-profit organization United Against Nuclear Iran and monitoring service TankerTrackers.com confirmed its identity.For the second cargo…
U.S. Puts Clamps on Iranian Shipping Companies, Ships
The U.S. Treasury Department yesterday said the United States is imposing additional sanctions on Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation networks, and is also taking additional steps to prevent the evasion of sanctions by publicly identifying a group of Iranian front companies and banks. “Iran today is under intense, multilateral sanctions pressure, and we will continue to ratchet up the pressure so long as Iran refuses to address the international community’s well-founded concerns about its nuclear program,” said Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen. Continuing the effort to target Iran’s nuclear and missile proliferation activities, the U.S.
Economic Sanctions - Iran
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a final rule amending the Iranian Transaction Regulations to expand the scope of certain economic sanctions to include non-financial as well as financial institutions determined to be owned or controlled by the Government of Iran and to add three non-financial institutions that have been determined to be owned or controlled by the Government of Iran [the National Iranian Oil Company, the Naftiran Intertrade Company Ltd, and Naftiran Intertrade Co. (NICO) Sarl]. The amendments come into effect immediately. Companies that trade with both the United States and Iran should exercise care so as to avoid inadvertent violations of these regulations. 73 Fed. Reg. 73788 (December 4, 2008). (Source: Holland & Knight)
