OREANDA-NEWS. June 11, 2018. Venezuelan state-owned PdV has completed its first ship-to-ship transfer operation in deep waters near the 940,000 b/d CRP refining complex in Paraguana, a PdV official and a shipping agent tell Argus.

The operation is an important milestone for PdV, which has shifted logistics into Venezuelan waters in recent weeks after US independent ConocoPhillips levied debt-related liens on its assets in the Dutch Caribbean, where it traditionally stored and transshipped cargoes for long-haul destinations.

PdV transshipped a cargo to the Bahamas-flagged 83,753t Sonangol Kalandula for delivery to Tipco's asphalt refinery in Malaysia, the executive said.

The Sonangol Kalandula had been anchored in Venezuelan waters since mid-February waiting for a cargo from PdV, which is contractually obligated to pay all demurrage costs, the executive added.