Brazil's oil and gas company Petrobras has said it will not hire oil tankers that have visited Venezuela in the past 12 months out of compliance with the US sanctions against Caracas.
"We have recently reinforced to our suppliers we would not accept offers from ships that had operated in Venezuela during the sanctions period (12 months)", the company said, according to Reuters.
Earlier, Reuters reported that at least two tankers heading to Venezuela to load crude oil had returned, and three other vessels have left Venezuelan waters. According to media reports, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) wants to add up to 50 tankers to its blacklist.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza has said that the tracing and tracking of fuel tankers entering Venezuelan waters constituted a violation of international law.
