Korean oil refiners expect benefits from US control of Venezuela
U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent control of Venezuela’s oil revenues after the capture of the South American country's President Nicolas Maduro has turned out to be a boon for Korea’s oil refining industry, rather than a risk to the sector. As it has become virtually impossible for Chinese companies to secure low-cost crude from Venezuela, refiners here expect the oversupply to ease. “Once Venezuelan crude is shipped to the United States instead of China and Iran’s crude exports decline, Chinese firms will struggle to source cheap oil,” an S-Oil official said during a recent earnings conference call for last year’s fourth quarter. “That will lower Chinese refiners’ capacity utilization, which will have a positive impact on refining margins across Asia.” According to industry officials, small Chinese refiners have been importing large amounts of Venezuelan oil through so-called “shadow fleets,” informal tanker fleets that evade international sanctions by turning off tracking systems, changing ship names, transferring oil between vessels at sea and switching na
