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4mo ago

Traders Exploit Sanctions by Rebranding Venezuelan Oil as Brazilian for China

Over $1 billion of Venezuelan crude has been disguised as Brazilian bitumen using falsified documents and signal spoofing, bypassing U.S. sanctions and fueling Chinese imports.

A drone view of the Bolivariana de Puertos La Guaira port in La Guaira, Venezuela April 17, 2024. REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/File Photo
Two oil tankers are seen loading crude at the port of Puerto la Cruz, about 300 kilometers, 186 miles of Caracas, Venezuela, Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2003. Foreign shipping agencies have been distrustful of the safety of Venezuelan ports, where many workers have been replaced. But in a sign of growing confidence in the safety of Venezuelan ports, U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil plans to load 525,000 barrels of synthetic crude at the Jose Terminal next week, said the port'sloading manager. (Fernando Llano/AP)

Overview

  • More than $1 billion worth of Venezuelan oil has been rebranded as Brazilian and shipped to China over the past year, circumventing U.S. sanctions.
  • Traders use falsified certificates of origin and vessel-location spoofing to disguise the oil's true origin without relying on ship-to-ship transfers.
  • Chinese customs data shows 2.7 million metric tons of 'Brazilian' bitumen imports between July 2024 and March 2025, despite Petrobras denying any such exports.
  • Direct shipments from Venezuela to China have eliminated the need for Malaysian transshipment hubs, saving costs and reducing voyage times by four days.
  • The rebranded oil, often Venezuela's Merey crude, is favored by Chinese independent refiners who exploit the misclassification to bypass import quotas.