Venezuelan Tankers Defy US Blockade, Return Home Amid Oil Negotiations

At least four tankers, including several loaded vessels, have returned to Venezuelan waters after departing in 'dark mode' in early January. The move comes as the US pressures Venezuela to comply with a strict oil embargo imposed in mid-December. According to state company PDVSA and monitoring service TankerTrackers.com, about a dozen loaded vessels and three empty ships left Venezuelan waters in apparent defiance of the embargo. One of the ships, the Panama-flagged supertanker M Sophia, was intercepted and seized by the US this week. However, another vessel, the Aframax tanker Olina, was intercepted but released to Venezuela on Friday. Satellite images revealed the presence of three more vessels, the Panama-flagged Merope, Cook Islands-flagged Min Hang, and Panama-flagged Thalia III, in Venezuelan waters. The US has confirmed that it will release the Olina, previously known as Minerva M, and that the next step for Venezuela would be the resumption of organized crude exports as part of a $2 billion oil supply deal being negotiated between Caracas and Washington. US President Donald Trump has expressed progress in the negotiations, and global trading houses Vitol and Trafigura have received the first US licenses to negotiate and carry Venezuela's exports. The deal is expected to include naphtha supplies to the OPEC country.