U.S. sanctions four shipping firms for transporting Venezuelan oil

The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday said it had sanctioned four shipping firms for transporting Venezuelan oil, Trend reports citing Reuters.

Marshall Islands-based Afranav Maritime Ltd, Adamant Maritime Ltd and Sanibel Shiptrade Ltd, as well as Greece-based Seacomber Ltd, all own tankers that lifted Venezuelan oil between February and April of this year, the Treasury Department said.

“These companies are transporting oil that was effectively stolen from the Venezuelan people,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.

Neither Venezuela’s oil ministry nor PDVSA immediately responded to requests for comment. Afranav did not immediately respond to a request for comment, while the other three companies could not be reached for comment.

Tuesday’s sanctions come after Washington in February and March sanctioned two units of Russia’s Rosneft (ROSN.MM), which became the main intermediary of Venezuelan crude in 2019. The units stopped lifting Venezuelan crude in March.

The FBI is also probing several Mexican and European companies that are allegedly involved in trading Venezuelan oil. One of those companies, Libre Abordo, said this week it was bankrupt.

Treasury also designated four tankers owned by the companies as blocked property. Those tankers had been used by Rosneft, Libre Abordo and a related Mexican firm - Schlager Business Group - to transport Venezuelan oil this year, according to PDVSA documents.