HOUSTON/PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela (Reuters) - More than 4 million barrels of Venezuelan crude and fuels are sitting in tankers anchored in the Caribbean sea, unable to reach their final destination because state-run PDVSA cannot pay for hull cleaning, inspections, and other port services, according to internal documents and Reuters data.

The logo of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA is seen at a gas station in Caracas, Venezuela January 11, 2017. REUTERS/Marco Bello

About a dozen tankers are being held back because the hulls have been soiled by crude, stemming from several oil leaks in the last year at key ports of Bajo Grande and Jose, which has resulted in delayed operations for loading and discharging.

Since debt-laden PDVSA cannot afford to have the ships cleaned, they have to wait for weeks to navigate international waters, delaying shipments.

Dirty tankers are the latest of a litany of problems weighing on PDVSA, the source of most of Venezuela’s export revenue and critical to the government’s budget.

Oil production and exports are currently at lows not seen in more than two decades. PDVSA’s difficulty with paying creditors and service providers makes pulling itself out of that hole more onerous. That has contributed to a deep, years-long recession in the OPEC country.

As of Jan. 25, vessels carrying some 1.4 million barrels of crude, diesel, gasoline, fuel oil and liquefied petroleum gas were anchored in Venezuelan and Caribbean waters waiting for cleaning, according to PDVSA’s trade documents, verified by Reuters shipping data. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

“PDVSA almost solved this situation in Bajo Grande in early December because it needed to drain inventories, but it is now taking at least three weeks to complete the cleaning,” said an inspector at Lake Maracaibo, who was not authorized to speak to the press.

The dozen or so tankers that have not been cleaned are mostly from PDVSA’s fleet of owned and leased vessels, according to a series of PDVSA’s internal operational reports confirmed by Reuters vessel tracking data.

In addition, another 11 tankers in early January are being held up for “financial retention,” a classification used by PDVSA in its internal reports to identify loaded vessels that have been embargoed or temporarily retained by port authorities, inspection firms or maritime agencies due to unpaid bills.

Those tankers, along with several smaller ones retained for other operational delays, are holding a combined 2.9 million barrels, according to the data.

The list includes the Aframax Hero, loaded in September with 520,000 barrels of fuel oil bound for China. The cargo is moored in Curacao, delayed by more than 100 days, until a payment to inspection firm Saybolt (CLB.N) is made. [nL1N1CY00P]

PDVSA's crude exports fell to 1.59 million barrels per day (bpd) in the last quarter of 2016 from 1.82 million bpd in the first quarter, a 13 percent decline, according to Thomson Reuters trade flows data. [tmsnrt.rs/2baTeGm]

DIRTY BUSINESS

Vessels started to become soiled by crude in PDVSA’s ports last year amid intermittent oil leaks at Bajo Grande terminal in Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo, according to sources close to that operation.

Maritime laws prohibit stained tankers from navigating international waters until hull cleaning is performed. While PDVSA’s debts to cleaning firms grow, the leaks have not been repaired, so dozens of vessels have traveled within the country in recent months, spreading the problem to other terminals, including Puerto la Cruz, La Salina, Cardon and Amuay, the documents state.

Cleaning, which is performed at the Guaranao Port, located close to Venezuela’s largest refinery, has taken as much as two months in some cases, an inspector said.

A crude spill at Jose in January stained more tankers, this time affecting vessels waiting to load crude for exports.

PDVSA last week said the affected dock at Jose resumed operations, but there is a logjam of ships needing cleaning, affecting regular foreign buyers of Venezuelan crude, the inspector and a trader from a firm buying Venezuelan oil said. [nL1N1F71I7][nL1N1F80NG]

Some of PDVSA’s joint venture partners in projects in the Orinoco belt have proposed picking up part of the bill, paying cleaning companies in dollars to amortize debts faster and ease the bottleneck, but the state-run firm has refused due to its cash flow constraints, the trader said.</s>HOUSTON/PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela, Jan 26 More than 4 million barrels of Venezuelan crude and fuels are sitting in tankers anchored in the Caribbean sea, unable to reach their final destination because state-run PDVSA cannot pay for hull cleaning, inspections, and other port services, according to internal documents and Reuters data.</s>A fleet of rundown Venezuelan oil tankers carrying some 4 million barrels of oil and other fuels is wallowing in the Caribbean Sea. Not because of bad weather, or mechanical problems, but because Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela SA, doesn’t have the cash to get them to their final destinations.

Beyond the obvious environmental risks, it’s doubly bad news for Venezuela, a country in dire economic straits and full-fledged crisis, with a political impasse, looting, dangerous food and health supply shortages, and massive protests. Venezuela is massively reliant on oil exports to bankroll government services. But the cash-strapped country can’t even find the money to service the vessels that carry its exports. And Venezuela needs the exports to get the cash to service the vessels. It’s a vicious circle.

Before ships can venture into international waters, international maritime law requires safety inspections, hull cleanings, and other services. PdVSA, already mired in debt, can’t foot those bills, leaving crude-stained tankers in the lurch. Further exacerbating the problem is intermittent leaks at Venezuela’s poorly-maintained oil export terminals. The leaks stained incoming and outgoing tankers, creating a backlog of cleaning. Some tankers wait as long as two months for cleaning before being seaworthy, one inspector told Reuters, which first reported the story.

Venezuela, once Latin America’s most powerful petrostate, is on the brink of collapse after decades of economic mismanagement and boiling tensions between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition parties. Low global oil prices haven’t helped.

The global oil cartel OPEC agreed to slash global production late last year, but the small uptick in oil prices likely won’t provide enough reprieve for PDVSA to weather its debt storm; it projects its oil production will linger near a 23 year-low in 2017.

So while Venezuela’s political crisis continues unabated, its sole possible economic lifeline drifts at sea, in aging, dirty tankers.</s>Venezuela’s cash-strapped PDVSA may have barely avoided default last year, but its finances seem to have further worsened. More than 4 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil and fuels are stuck in tankers in the Caribbean because Venezuela’s state-run oil firm cannot afford to pay for cleaning dirty tankers and port inspections, Reuters reports, quoting internal company reports and Reuters tanker tracking data.

According to PDVSA’s trade documents and Reuters shipping data, some dozen tankers full of around 1.4 million barrels of crude oil, diesel, fuel oil, gasoline, and LPG were anchored - as of Wednesday - in Venezuelan and Caribbean waters and were waiting to be cleaned.

In addition, another 11 vessels full of oil and oil products have been retained or embargoed by port authorities, maritime agencies and inspection firms because PDVSA has not paid its bills. The 11 tankers and a few smaller vessels held for other operational delays contain a total of 2.9 million barrels of crude and fuels, Reuters data showed.

The dirty tankers were stained with crude oil due to leaks at the Bajo Grande terminal, sources close to the operation told Reuters.



Related: Despite Trump’s Rhetoric: U.S. Needs OPEC Oil

Since maritime laws do not allow dirty tankers to travel through international waters, and PDVSA’s debts to cleaning services operators have been piling up, those vessels have been circulating Venezuela’s waters and spread the problem to other terminals, including Puerto la Cruz, La Salina, Cardon and Amuay.

PDVSA brings almost all of the export revenues for the equally near-broke Venezuela. Low oil prices have ravaged the oil company, which is the only U.S.-dollar cash cow for the Socialist regime. Last October, PDVSA barely escaped bankruptcy, and more recently, Fitch has pointed out that Venezuela’s state-owned firm, which has $13 billion in high-yield debt, is probably most in danger of default.
• None Oil Price Meltdown – Is Trump Setting The Oil Markets Up For Another Bust?
• None Keystone XL Still Faces Obstacles Even With Trump’s Approval</s>Oil futures extended losses on Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an increase of 2.8 million barrels in domestic crude-oil supplies for the week ended Jan. 20. The American Petroleum Institute late Tuesday reported a rise of 2.9 million barrels, according to sources, while analysts polled by S&P Global Platts forecast a climb of 1.9 million barrels. Gasoline supplies jumped by 6.8 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles were "virtually unchanged" last week, according to the EIA. March crude fell 41 cents, or 0.8%, at $52.77 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.</s>The year 2016 started on a disappointing note, with crude prices falling to a 12-year low of $26.21 a barrel in February as investors worried about the oversupplied market. The commodity's collapse threatened the industry's creditworthiness by hurting cash flows, drying up liquidity and pummeling producers' profit margins.

However, indications that supply was easing helped oil prices rebound to $50/barrel mark in early June. The surge was driven by outages in Nigeria, Libya, Venezuela and Canada - countries that hold some of the world's major sources of crude. The upward pressure in oil prices also reflected the U.S. Energy Department's inventory releases that showed crude stockpile builds turning into draws. Things were further helped by a continued decline in U.S. crude production.

With factors like Canadian wildfires, Nigerian outages/disruptions, production issues in Venezuela and a strike by Kuwaiti oil workers vanishing from the market, oil slipped back under $40 in the first week of August. A glut of refined products also kept the commodity under pressure.

The volatility in oil prices continued with the benchmark touching the $50 threshold again early October, buoyed by government figures that continued to show large drawdowns, while investors betted on commitments by Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (or OPEC) and non-OPEC players to slash production targets.

When divisions in the cartel became apparent and the future of the ambitious OPEC announcement looked more and more uncertain, the commodity fell back under $45, only to receive a booster shot.

In a bold but not unexpected move, the OPEC cartel agreed on November 30 to reduce production starting next month. Seen as a desperate bid to put a floor on falling oil prices, the group - led by Saudi Arabia - promised to take 1.2 million barrels a day out of the market.

OPEC's decision to cut oil production was not totally surprising, though the magnitude of reduction was deeper than many analysts had expected. The move aims to trim output to 32.5 million barrels per day - at the low end of a preliminary agreement struck in September.

Russia, which is not part of the body that pumps a third of the world's oil, will also join output cuts for the first time in 15 years. The biggest supplier outside the bloc relented from its longstanding position of only freezing production and agreed to cut 300,000 barrels from its record-high output of more than 10 million barrels a day.

The OPEC deal had a massive impact on the energy markets, sending crude prices back above $50 a barrel. While the entire sector is roaring higher since the announcement, the independent oil explorers and producers - whose revenues are directly associated with crude price - have been among the best-performing stocks. In fact, shares of oil finders like Whiting Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:WLL), Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE:OAS) and Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE:MRO) exploded higher and climbed to new multi-month highs.

Oil prices rose further, to a 17-month high of $53 a barrel, after Saudi Arabia surprised markets by signaling that it's willing to trim output beyond the pledge for the OPEC deal and cut volumes below 10 million barrels per day. To add to the optimism, Russia and several heavyweight non-OPEC countries promised to cut output by 558,000 barrels a day.

Despite OPEC's success in reaching an output deal, the oil sector is by no means out of the woods.

The commodity is facing the heat on several other fronts. Perhaps most important pertains to the mounting worries about China's crude demand. In particular, the Asian giant's currency devaluation has stoked speculation about soft economic growth in the world's No. 2 energy consumer.

Energy traders are also fretting over the Federal Reserve's recent decision to raise interest rates for the first time in 12 months. Further, the Fed expected three rate increases next year, higher than the previously projected two rate hikes in the September meeting. This statement caught investors by surprise and weighed on markets.

What's more, the resilience of North American shale suppliers to keep pumping irrespective of prices and concerns over the effects of Brexit on crude demand means not much upside is expected in prices in the near term. Moreover, a robust dollar has made the greenback-priced crude more expensive for investors holding foreign currency. A stronger focus on cleaner energy and weakness in industrial production worldwide are also holding back oil consumption.

As it is, with inventories near the upper limit of the average range for this time of year, crude is very well stocked, and it still looks like the commodity is in an environment of excess supply. Therefore, while the OPEC-driven rally is likely to drive up prices by a few dollars, it certainly can't be termed a seismic event.

In our view, crude prices in the next few months are likely to exhibit a sideways-to-bullish trend, mostly trading in the $50-55 per barrel range. As North American supply remains strong and demand looks underwhelming, oil is likely to maintain its low trajectory throughout at least the first half of 2017.

Over the last few years, a quiet revolution has been reshaping the energy business in the U.S. The success of "shale gas" - natural gas trapped within dense sedimentary rock formations or shale formations - has transformed domestic energy supply with a potentially inexpensive and abundant new source of fuel for the world's largest energy consumer.

With the advent of hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") - a method used to extract natural gas by blasting underground rock formations with a mixture of water, sand and chemicals - shale gas production is now booming in the U.S. Coupled with sophisticated horizontal drilling equipment that can drill and extract gas from shale formations, the new technology is being hailed as a breakthrough in U.S. energy supplies, playing a key role in boosting domestic natural gas reserves. As a result, once faced with a looming deficit, natural gas is now available in abundance.

With production from the major shale plays remaining strong and the commodity's demand failing to keep pace with this supply surge, natural gas prices hit 17-year lows of around $1.6 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) in the first quarter. The glut was further exacerbated by lackluster industrial requirement over the past few years.

Since then, successive below-average builds on the back of warmer temperature across the country, followed by the recent start of the withdrawal season, have been cutting into the year-over-year storage surplus. Statistically speaking, the current storage level, at around 3.8 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), has fallen below that of last year and is just 5% above the five-year average. As a result, natural gas prices have rebounded strongly and more than doubled from the extreme lows they hit in March. The dramatic recovery has helped the commodity stay well above the key psychological level of $3 per MMBtu.

The price strength has translated into major gains for natural gas-weighted firms, including the likes of Cimarex Energy Co. (NYSE:XEC), Southwestern Energy Co. (NYSE:SWN) and Range Resources Corp. (NYSE:RRC), which have popped up more than 40% or more year to date.

With the early winter turning out cooler than expected, natural gas demand has picked up on the back of elevated power sector consumption due to air conditioning use. Coupled with the easing production from the major shale plays, natural gas prices are set to rise further.

What's more, rig count is now languishing below 130 - compared to almost 200 a year ago and the high of 1,606 reached in 2008. Therefore, production growth is unlikely to resume anytime soon.

In general, sentiment toward natural gas is likely to become more positive in the near future as speculators bet on a frigid winter to follow the hot summer.

Considering the turbulent market dynamics of the energy industry, the safer way to play the volatile yet rewarding sector is through ETFs. In particular, we would advocate tapping the energy scene by targeting the exploration and production (E&P) group.

This sub-sector serves as a pretty good proxy for oil & gas price fluctuations and can act as an excellent investment medium for those who wish to take a long-term exposure within the energy sector. While all oil & gas-related stocks stand to move with fluctuating commodity prices, companies in the E&P sector tend to be the most important, as their product's values are directly dependent on oil/gas prices. (See all Energy ETFs here.)

Launched in June 19, 2006, XOP is an ETF that seeks investment results corresponding to the S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Select Industry Index. This is an equal-weighted fund consisting of 58 stocks of companies that finds and produces oil and gas, with the top holdings being California Resources Corp. (NYSEMKT:CRC), Oasis Petroleum Inc. (OAS) and Whiting Petroleum Corp. (WLL). The fund's expense ratio is 0.35%, and it pays out a dividend yield of 0.89%. XOP has about $2,506.2 million in assets under management as of December 15, 2016.

This fund began in May 1, 2006, and is based on a free-float adjusted market capitalization-weighted index of 52 stocks focused on exploration and production. The top three holdings are ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), EOG Resources Inc. (NYSE:EOG) and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX). It charges 0.44% in expense ratio, while the yield is 1.12% as of now. IEO has managed to attract $383.6 million in assets under management till December 15, 2016.

PXE, launched in October 26, 2005, follows the Energy Exploration & Production Intellidex Index. Comprising stocks of energy exploration and production companies, PXE is made up of 30 securities. Its top holdings include EOG Resources Inc., Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:APC) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE:VLO). The fund's expense ratio is 0.75% and the dividend yield is 6.49%, while it has $67.0 million in assets under management as of December 15, 2016.</s>Jan. 1 marks the start of the pact by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and several non-OPEC producers to lower production by almost 1.8 million bpd.

"Without prejudicing its international contractual obligations, from Jan. 1 2017, (state oil company) PDVSA and/or its subsidiaries will implement a reduction in the volumes of its main crude sale contracts, all in conformity with existing terms and conditions," the Energy Ministry said.

Venezuela, a price hawk within OPEC and one of the nations worst affected by a fall in crude revenue since mid-2014, currently produces just over 2.4 million barrels of crude and condensates per day, according to ministry data.

Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino said the output deal should lead to a re-balancing of inventories, after which he forecast Brent crude would settle at a price range of around $60-$70 a barrel and Venezuela's crude basket between $45-$55 a barrel.

Venezuela's basket trades at a discount to other benchmarks because of its higher content of heavy oil.

President Nicolas Maduro has said he will soon embark on a tour of oil-producing nations to support the OPEC deal.

"I am proposing a new system, a new formula to fix markets and oil prices to enable stability, harmony, continuity," he said on Monday, without giving further details of his itinerary or planned proposal to fellow producers.

"I aspire to at least 10 years of stability with realistic, fair prices of oil, and I am going to achieve it."

Oil prices jumped 1.7 percent on Tuesday, continuing a year-end rally with support from expectations of tighter supply once the first output cut deal between OPEC and non-OPEC producers in 15 years takes effect on Sunday.</s>Nov 17 Venezuela said it would tap $2.2 billion from a Chinese credit line to boost oil output at joint ventures with China National Petroleum Corp, in a boost for the South American country's struggling oil industry and a show of unity with a key ally.

CNPC, China's largest state energy group, and Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA will seek to boost production in the OPEC country by around 277,000 barrels per day, President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised address.

Funds will come from a credit line of up to $9 billion with China, Maduro said after a meeting with CNPC in Caracas on Thursday.

The agreement will be a boon to Venezuela's oil industry, which has seen its production tumble this year amid a steep recession. It is also welcome public backing for Maduro from a strategic ally amid a political and economic crisis.

"Many thanks for all the support you have given Venezuela in 2014, 2015, and especially 2016," Maduro said in a televised speech. "Our older sister China has not left Venezuela alone in moments of difficulty."

Venezuela has borrowed over $50 billion from China under a financing arrangement created by late socialist leader Hugo Chavez in 2007, in which a portion of its crude and fuel sales to the world's second-biggest economy are used to pay down loans.

The increased oil output at the joint ventures would boost shipments to China to over 800,000 bpd, the president said.

Venezuela is undergoing a brutal recession due to a collapsing state-led economy, made worse by the tumble in oil prices. The rout in oil markets has also left Maduro's government struggling to meet the original terms of the oil-for-loans agreement, which require that PDVSA set aside more barrels for debt services when prices fall.

CNPC has minority stakes in oil joint ventures with Caracas-based PDVSA, which oversees the world's biggest oil reserves but has seen output fall amid the country's cash crunch, low investment, and debts with service providers.

Output increases are planned at the Petrourica, Petrozumano, and Sinovensa joint ventures, Maduro said. A deal was also reached to rehabilitate 500 light crude wells with a potential of some 42,800 bpd.

Oil Minister and PDVSA president Eulogio Del Pino said the projects would be rolled out in coming months.

It was not immediately clear if China would free up more oil funds via the credit line. (Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer; Additional reporting by Diego Ore; Editing by Andrew Hay and Lisa Shumaker)</s>(CNN) Here's a look at crude oil reserves and production around the world.



Crude oil is a form of liquid petroleum, extracted from rock formations and used for fuel and other purposes.

The 13 countries/members of OPEC: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Gabon, Iran Iraq , Kuwait, Libya , Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia , United Arab Emirates and Venezuela

The following countries have the world's largest reserves of crude oil , according to the US Energy Information Administration (as of 2015):

Production and Consumption in the US: 

In 2015, the United States produced about 9.4 million barrels of crude oil per day.

The United States is the world's largest consumer of petroleum products.

US independence on imported oil peaked in 2005.



July 3, 2008 - US light, sweet crude oil settles at $145.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a record closing high.

July 3, 2008 - US light, sweet crude oil hits an all-time intraday high of $145.85.

September 22, 2008 - Oil prices experience the biggest one-day increase ever, settling up $16.37 to $120.92 a barrel.

October 1973 - OPEC issues an embargo that halts exports of oil to the United States. Americans experience long lines at gas stations and at times cannot find gasoline at all. Gasoline prices go from 36 cents a gallon in 1972 to over 50 cents a gallon in 1973.

December 31, 1974 - Libya lifts its 14-month-old oil embargo against the United States.

December 22, 1975 - US President Gerald Ford establishes the US President Gerald Ford establishes the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when he signs into law the "Energy Policy and Conservation Act." The law is created in response to the oil embargo of 1973-1974 and the severe effect it had on the economy. It mandates that the country maintain a stockpile of one million barrels of petroleum, which is the largest emergency supply in the world.

July 3, 2008 - U.S. light, sweet crude oil settles at $145.29 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, a new record closing high.

July 3, 2008 - U.S. light, sweet crude oil hits an all-time intraday high of $145.85.

September 22, 2008 - Oil prices experience the biggest one-day increase ever, settling up $16.37 to $120.92 a barrel.

2013 - The United States imports less foreign oil than it produces for the first time in nearly two decades.</s>The project, which the state-owned firm aims to lead with support from the country's oil majors, would give the world's No.2 oil consumer control of the Isla refinery on the tiny island of Curacao that supplies fuel to Venezuela and crude oil to Asia.

State-owned Guangdong Zhenrong agreed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in September with the government of Curacao, an autonomous Dutch state off Venezuela's northwest coast, to upgrade its aging refinery and build a gas terminal.

A delegation from Curacao, including government lawyers and the head of its refinery facilities, is in southern China this week to visit oil and gas plants, as parties move negotiations beyond the initial cooperation pact, two top executives at the Guangzhou-based China firm said.

"We are discussing with China Construction Bank, China Development Bank, ICBC and Bank of China to provide the bulk of the financing. Some banks have already made detailed proposals," said Chen Bingyan, a company advisor and the project's key negotiator.

Early work showed the project, including the refinery upgrade, increased oil storage and the natural gas facility which is designed to provide clean fuel to local users, would require about $5.5 billion in total investment, Chen said.

The figure was below the $10 billion in September's preliminary agreement, which referred to the eventual size of the investment the Chinese firm committed to spend on Curacao, he said.

The 335,000 barrel-per-day Isla refinery, located just 50 km (31 miles) northwest of Venezuela, has for decades been operated by Venezuela's state oil firm PDVSA under a lease agreement, but the cash-poor company has been reluctant to meet Curacao's requests to modernise the plant, which locals blame for pollution.

China in the last decade has become one of the top buyers of Venezuelan crude and fuel through an oil-for-loans financing deal, and some of its purchases use Curacao as a transfer point.

China purchased nearly 490,000 bpd of crude oil and products from Venezuela in the first nine months this year, roughly 6 percent of its total purchases. C-CN-VE-FZ

Guangdong Zhenrong, an oil and metals trader with little experience in the refining or gas terminal business, is aiming to lead the upgrade project and seek technical and operational support from the country's state energy giants.

The trader hopes to be the single-largest stake holder in the project, and has entered into preliminary cooperation agreements with engineering and construction units of Beijing's top oil firms including CNPC, Sinopec and CNOOC, said Chen and a second top executive.

"As a smallest sibling, we'll lead using our relationship skills. Our bigger brothers will pitch in with their expertise," said the second executive, who asked not to be named.

Sinopec, China's largest refiner would revamp the refinery which was first built in 1918, while CNOOC, which led China's expansion of its LNG import facilities, had been identified as the potential builder and operator of the gas terminal, Chen said.

"[Guangdong Zhenrong] is just a political vehicle. It could subcontract to engineering divisions of Sinopec and CNPC ... The big oils prefer to keep a low profile, not being seen helping PDVSA directly," said Gordon Kwan of Nomura Research.

China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corp (CPECC), a unit of CNPC is expected to lead in expanding the storage site at Bullenbay to 36 million barrels, double the current size.

Sinopec declined to comment. CNOOC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment, while CPECC was not immediately available.

Guangdong Zhenrong, which posted sales of 68.7 billion yuan ($10.14 billion) in 2014, also won approval from Myanmar earlier this year to build a long-planned $3 billion refinery in the Southeast Asian nation. ($1 = 6.7743 Chinese yuan renminbi) (Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Richard Pullin)
Tankers anchored in the Caribbean Sea are unable to deliver over four million barrels of crude oil, due to Venezuela's state-owned oil and natural gas company being unable to pay for hull cleaning, inspections, and other port services.