Venezuelan state oil major PDVSA has halted Caribbean tanker and storage operations following an attempt by ConocoPhillips to seize its assets there.

The company is focusing on its main crude terminal, Jose, on its eastern coast, while recalling vessels to its own waters to avoid arrests, Reuters reported.

"We are no longer storing or shipping oil from the Caribbean islands. We are now mostly depending on Jose," a PDVSA source said.

Conoco moves against PDVSA's Caribbean assets
 Read more

Five owned and leased facilities on Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao and St Eustatius handled around 24% of its total exports last year.

ConocoPhillips moved against assets on Bonaire, Curacao and St Eustatius last week in order to enforce a $2bn arbitration ruling related to the nationalisation of its joint ventures in Venezuela.

Curacao prime minister Eugene Rhuggenaath told Reuters: "We are aware of the potential risks for the operation of the refinery. A stoppage of the operation would have a devastating impact economically and socially."

PDVSA has not commented.

Tanker diverted

Shipping sources said Conoco has attached at least 4.8m barrels of PDVSA's stored crude and fuel oil in the islands of Bonaire and St Eustatius.

Cargoes arriving from the Caribbean have begun creating vessel queues at Jose.

PDVSA asked BP's 114,000-dwt aframax British Cygnet (built 2005), which was waiting to discharge in Curacao, to instead dock in Venezuela with a Russian crude cargo.

Nine other ships have been diverted since Friday.

Conoco's claims against Venezuela and state-run PDVSA in international courts have totalled $33bn.

PDVSA aframax released as cargo dispute settled
 Read more

"Any potential impacts on communities are the result of PDVSA's illegal expropriation of our assets and its decision to ignore the judgement of the ICC [International Criminal Court] tribunal," Conoco said in an email to Reuters.

In March, PDVSA settled a cargo dispute that saw one of its aframaxes arrested in Curacao last year.

The deal for an undisclosed amount meant the 99,000-dwt Proteo (built 1993) was free to leave and PDVSA could dispose of the crude on board, the Curacao Chronicle reported.