Venezuela is expected to receive two cargoes of Russian Urals crude on 19-21 February at the Caribbean island of Curacao, following the delivery of three Urals cargoes to the region in January, Vortexa data show.

The Aframax vessels Promitheas and Waikiki departed from the Russian Baltic port of Primorsk on 30-31 January laden with Urals. They are heading towards the Bullen Bay oil terminal in Curacao, where Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA operates the 335,000 b/d Isla refinery.

In late January two Aframax vessels that loaded from Primorsk with Urals – the Front Lynx and Mareta – delivered to Bullen Bay. A third Aframax vessel, the Minerva Alexandra, loaded from Ust-Luga and discharged in Freeport, Bahamas in mid-January. PDVSA had issued crude import tenders seeking Urals for delivery in January and February.

Prior to these January-arrival shipments in the Caribbean, two Primorsk-loaded Aframax vessels carrying Urals appeared to deliver to Cuba’s Matanzas port in April and May last year, according to Vortexa.