From Reuters

Four tankers carrying more than 2 million barrels of U.S. crude are stuck at sea and cannot discharge at a Caribbean terminal because Venezuela’s PDVSA has so far failed to pay its supplier BP Plc (BP.L), according to two sources and Thomson Reuters vessel tracking data.

The cargoes are part of a tender Petroleos de Venezuela SA[PDVSA.UL], known as PDVSA, awarded in March to BP and China Oil. The deal was to import some 8 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, so that Venezuela could dilute its extra heavy crude output and feed its Caribbean refineries.

While three cargoes for this tender were delivered in April, seven others have been waiting to discharge, leaving up to 3.85 million barrels of WTI in limbo. Of these delayed cargoes, BP has more than 2 million barrels on at least four vessels it hired.

PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

PDVSA’s cash shortages, which also affected its oil imports late last year, have added to a backlog of vessels around Venezuelan ports since March due to malfunctioning loading arms at Jose, its main crude port.

PDVSA initially offered to pay for the imports with Venezuelan oil, but negotiations for those swaps failed as the loading times and crude grades did not work for BP, a source close to the talks said.

As crude prices and exports have declined, PDVSA has faced a cash shortfall since 2015 that has caused payment delays to suppliers. As a result, service firms including Schlumberger (SLB.N), Halliburton and Petrex have curtailed operations in the South American country.

The payment delays are also raising questions about who will pay for demurrage, or the daily costs for delayed vessels. Two of the BP tankers have been anchored around Curacao for more than 30 days.

As part of broader oil-for-loans deals, China already lifts Venezuelan crude and products, so Chinese companies have not had problems arranging exchanges with PDVSA, the sources said.

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