US Removes Sanctions on PB Tankers

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has removed Italy-based PB Tankers from its list of sanctioned companies.

OFAC designated PB Tankers on April 12, 2019, for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy.

As a part of this designation, six vessels were identified as blocked property in the interest of PB Tankers. According to earlier reports, one vessel, named the Silver Point, was used to deliver oil products from Venezuela to Cuba.

Following the company’s designation, PB Tankers terminated its contract with Cubametales, which had chartered the Silver Point to transport oil between Venezuela and Cuba. Likewise, PB Tankers took additional steps to increase scrutiny of its business operations to prevent future sanctionable activity, OFAC explained.

As a result, all property and interests in property, which had been blocked as a result of PB Tankers’ designation, are unblocked, and all otherwise lawful transactions involving U.S. persons and PB Tankers are no longer prohibited.

The U.S. authorities revealed the update as part of the country’s latest round of sanctions that, as of July 3, include the Cuban state-run oil import and export company Cubametales for its continued importation of oil from Venezuela.