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PDVSA gets first VLCC as it builds up its tanker fleetPDVSA gets first VLCC as it builds up its tanker fleet

Venezuela state-oil and gas firm Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) has received its first VLCC as it builds up its own shipping fleet.

Michele Labrut, Americas Correspondent

October 7, 2013

1 Min Read
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Two tanker newbuildings, a VLCC and a suezmax, built in China arrived in Venezuela on 4 October. Both vessels are the first in two series of four VLCCs and four suezmaxes the oil company has ordered at Chinese yards and all due to be delivered by next May.

“Never before have we had a vessel of those characteristics in Venezuela,” Petroleum and Mining Minister Rafael Ramirez said as he received the vessels at PDVSA’s Jose Antonio Anzoategui complex in Puerto La Cruz.

“In 2002 we had only 12 ships,” Ramirez, who is also president of PDVSA said. “Now, we operate 81 ships, 54 of them under control of the republic via our own vessels and our mixed enterprises.”



Ramirez said that Venezuela currently exports 640,000 barrels per day to China and 400,000 bpd to India.



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About the Author

Michele Labrut

Americas Correspondent

Michèle Labrut is a long-time Panama resident, a journalist and correspondent, and has continuously covered the maritime sector of Central & Latin America.

Michèle first came to Panama as a press attaché to the French Embassy and then returned to the isthmus as a foreign correspondent in the 1980s.

Author of Seatrade Maritime's annual Panama Maritime Review magazine and of several books, Michèle also wrote for Time magazine, The Miami Herald, NBC News and the Economist Intelligence Unit. She has also collaborated in making several documentaries for the BBC and European and U.S. television networks.

Michèle's profession necessitates a profound knowledge of the country, but her acumen is not from necessity alone, but a genuine passion for Panama.

In 2012 she was awarded the Order of Merit (Knight grade) by the French Government for her services to international journalism and in 2021 the upgrade to Chevalier grade.

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