US President Donald Trump ramped up his administration’s sanctions on Venezuela on 5 August, signing an executive order to freeze the Latin American country’s assets in the US, and barring foreign nationals from undertaking financial transactions with the Nicholas Maduro-led government.
China’s largest energy company, National Petroleum Corp., has cancelled plans to directly purchase some 5 million barrels worth of Venezuelan oil this month in the aftermath of the latest executive order by US President Donald Trump against the Latin American country, according to people with knowledge of the situation requesting anonymity, reported Bloomberg.
The three scheduled August oil shipments that CNPC’s subsidiary PetroChina Co. Ltd. backed out of haven’t attracted another buyer yet, according to reports seen by Bloomberg.
This will be the first time in over a decade that PetroChina declines Venezuelan crude.
China has imported 339,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan oil this year, with most of the barrels coming in via PetroChina.
There has been no comment from PetroChina’s press office yet.
Analysts contacted by Bloomberg, however, claim PetroChina’s decision doesn’t signify Beijing will totally reject Venezuelan oil, as other companies can continue to supply China’s independent refiners with the South American nation’s crude, according to people familiar with the matter.