Posted on 08/14/2020 9:49:06 AM PDT by blam
It’s been revealed that for the first time the US has successfully confiscated Iranian fuel cargo on the high seas that were deemed in violation of sweeping US-led sanctions on Iran’s energy sector.
Recall that in late May Iran delivered five tankers laden with fuel to Venezuela at a moment the US was threatening military blockade in the Caribbean. Maduro sent military jets and warships to escort the Iranian tankers, which both countries hailed as a rare, victorious act of defiance against Washington’s plans.
Later in July, when Iran again sent tankers for a second round of deliveries, which the two countries earlier announced would be ‘routine’, US federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit for the seizure of over 1.1 million barrels of gasoline on the four vessels. A judge issued a warrant for the seizure, but it remained unclear whether this could or would be carried out if the tankers never enter US territorial waters.
The efforts apparently met with success, as The Wall Street Journal reports, “One official said the vessels had been taken over without the use of military force but didn’t provide any details.”
No doubt it was done either in international waters or in the territory of an ally friendly to the US maximum pressure campaign seeking to choke Tehran. The vessels – the Luna, Panid, Bering, and Bella – are now in US custody, said by the WSJ to be en route to Houston.
“Senior administration officials are expected to meet the tankers in the coming days at an event scheduled to mark the docking, the officials said,” according to the report.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at ussanews.com ...
Venezuela. Oil rich nation that is so messed up that it has to import oil.
Rather like Gavin Newsom’s vision for California.
Newsom imports voters.
gas...
I thought I was the only one who See’s the irony.
I hope these vessels have been thoroughly scanned for radioactive and explosive signatures. Given up easily, and docking in Houston reeks of Trojan Horses.
Beirut could’ve been a trial run.
Is it hard to turn heavy sulfur oil into gasoline and diesel fuel?
To the best of my knowledge, “not hard with the right refinery”.
Valero in particular had been customizing its refineries for high-sulfur crude.
A good example of the concept of “Carrying coal to Newcastle.”
LOL I read “The vessels – the Luna, Panid....”
And my brain expected to see “and the Santa Maria.”
I thought I was the only one thinking like that. The Iranians would love to blow them up in the port of Houston. Houston is 50 miles inland from the Gulf Of Mexico.
Not really. Venezuela had plenty of refining capacity to meet domestic needs. Then came Hugo Chavez, nationalizing all the joint ventures with PdVSA. Then all employees were to pledge absolute loyalty to Chavez. Anyone perceived in the slightest not showing absolute loyalty was fired. Thus they lost nearly all of their qualified engineers, technicians, and operators. All that was left were incompetent sycophants. And now all the refineries are just about wrecked, including one I worked on 21 years ago.
Before Chavez, Venezuela was the richest per capita nation in South America.
My understanding is that it is tricky to do it even with the right kind of refinery and Venezuela has alienated those who know how.
Putin’s head is exploding..
Interesting...
Ain't Communism Just Grand?
</sarcasm>
Tell them we will return the tankers back to them after they return the pallet loads of cash money that O-bumma the anti American stole from the us taxpayers.
About 35 years ago, I was a consultant at a refinery in Texas tasked to make a mass balance of the facility unit by unit. Regarding the crude oil into the refinery, I had the records of the crude oil shipments via tanker and pipeline from West Texas. I got a kick out of the tanker records that typically originated from the Middle East and Venezuela. Very few of the tankers sailed in a straight line from start to finish. Most zigzagged as the cargo was bought and sold as they transmitted the ocean and the destination port changed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.