Barrels From the Backyard

March 11, 2022

Will more Venezuelan crude boost the tanker market?

Western sanctions on Russia are tightening.  Earlier this week, the U.S. President announced a ban on oil, gas, and coal imports from Russia.  While U.S. imports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products are relatively limited, Russian exports have already been hit by “self-sanctioning” from many Western oil companies and traders.  As a result, an already tight global oil market has become even tighter and oil prices are closing in on record highs.

This has led to a global search for additional oil supplies.  A coordinated release of 60 million barrels of crude oil from strategic petroleum reserves has had a very limited impact.  The U.S. government has asked OPEC to produce and export more (no success so far), is hoping to strike a deal with Iran, and is urging domestic shale producers to grow domestic output.  The “all of the above” approach has also led to preliminary discussions between two long-time adversaries, the U.S. and Venezuela.

In this Opinion, we will discuss the potential implications for the tanker market if the U.S. eases the oil sanctions on Venezuela.

To read the full opinion, please fill out the form.

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