Vitol Ships First Oil From Venezuelan Shore in Trump Mega Deal

Commodities trader Vitol Group loaded its first oil cargo from Venezuela’s shore-based storage tanks, a move set to help clear bottlenecks and pave the way for the South American crude giant to ramp up production.

The vessel ICE Energy loaded half a million barrels of Venezuelan crude over the weekend, according to shipping documents and vessel movements compiled by Bloomberg. The oil loaded for Vitol is expected to be shipped to Bullen Bay, Curacao, for discharge into storage facilities, the documents show.

Vitol and Trafigura Group were tasked by the Trump administration with marketing up to 50 million barrels of ...