Small US Trader Moves Into Commodity Giants Vitol, Trafigura’s Venezuela Oil Turf

(Bloomberg) -- George E. Warren LLC, a US oil trading firm based in Florida, broke into Venezuela oil trading, a market that had been largely dominated by commodity powerhouses Trafigura Group and Vitol Group since the ouster of former President Nicolas Maduro earlier this year. 

The firm is exporting 1 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil this month, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. This would be GE Warren’s first purchase since the US eased strict sanctions that stunted the flow of Venezuelan oil for the past seven years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Vero Beach, Florida-based GE Warren declined to comment. Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the supplier of the oil, didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

GE Warren is among the few traders to have successfully secured oil purchases from PDVSA, as Venezuela’s state oil company is known, since Maduro’s capture by US forces in January. 

Until now, trading has been largely dominated by Trafigura and Vitol, the commodity giants initially tapped by the Trump administration to help sell Venezuela’s oil. The US eased oil trading restrictions in February, but competitors are still struggling to clinch deals. 

GE Warren’s return to Venezuela, where it used to be active in the fuels market, comes as oil exports from the South American nation ramp up. In April, they rose to a seven-year high of nearly 1.2 million barrels a day, according to shipping reports and vessel movements. 

GE Warren’s oil completed loading onto the tanker Poliegos on Friday. It’s destination is listed as Singapore, but it could ultimately head somewhere else as the data is preliminary. 

Trading crude oil is a small part of the company’s business, mostly focused on refined products that are sold domestically and also exported out of main US hubs, including New York harbor and the US Gulf Coast. 

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