After the country was told a few months ago that oil was being transferred from the troubled Venezuelan oil tanker FSO Nabarima to another vessel, now comes word that the transfer of oil has only NOW begun.
Reports coming out of both Reuters and Bloomberg stated that Venezuelan Oil Company (PDVSA) began transferring oil stored in the FSO Nabarima onto the Icaro on Tuesday.
Local media was directed to the articles by the group Fisherman and Friends of the Sea (FFOS).
FFOS is now asking why Government reported that the oil was being removed two months ago when international reports now indicate that this was not the case?
They would also like to know what our independent experts did while on the Nabarima and if anything at all was done to verify whether the oil was in fact being transferred.
Bloomberg reported, “PDVSA began transferring oil from the FSO Nabarima on Tuesday, according to two people with knowledge of the situation, who declined to be identified discussing internal matters. The cargo is being unloaded onto a barge before being transported to a smaller crude tanker, they said. The operation will take up to two months, with the barge removing 30,000 barrels a day.”
Reuters published, “The company this week began the first of several transfers from the Nabarima floating storage and offloading facility (FSO), anchored in the Corocoro oilfield off Venezuela’s eastern coast, onto the Inmaculada barge, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
“Authorities from neighboring Trinidad and Tobago toured the vessel in October. They said that while they were satisfied the Nabarima was in stable condition, the offloading process posed risks,” Reuters reported.
FFOS said: If the Nabarima was stabilised and the oil was being transferred, the Maduro Regime should have had no difficulty in allowing our team of experts to conduct a second visit.
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