Venezuela

As war rages in Europe and the Middle East, a new flashpoint in South America could pose more complications for shipping.

Will Iran retaliate after America commandeers four Iranian gasoline shipments?

More forgiving sanctions approach would avoid rate surge seen after COSCO sanctions.

An exclusive interview with Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security will expand export licensing requirements for technologies intended for military applications.

The Treasury Department agency is closely monitoring vessel name changes used by Venezuelan and Cuban authorities to sidestep U.S. trade sanctions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control places subsidiary to Cuban state-run oil shipper, Corporacion Panamericana, on blacklist for circumventing sanctions against Venezuela’s oil sector.

The Trump administration said it is taking this latest regulatory action to further restrict the Cuban government’s efforts to support Venezuela’s Maduro regime.

Four ocean shipping firms and four tankers are added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List for their roles in supporting Maduro regime.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the U.S. plans to drop trade sanctions against Venezuela once embattled President Nicolás Maduro is out of office.

Stockpiles in the country are building up. Also: more hints on the price of fuel in a post IMO2020 market; Russia’s lack of assistance to OPEC

Crude prices are stuck in a $50-$55 range for WTI, as news that would drive prices higher inevitably gets offset soon after by something pushing it lower.

Also in this report: a rebound in the market helped by OPEC production cuts; ExxonMobil grows big on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Three key agencies have completed their January forecasts and they are all reasonably confident about OPEC’s ability to balance oil markets this year.

The EIA becomes one of the first major forecasters to put a price per gallon estimate on what is going to happen to diesel prices when the new rule kicks in.

The pipelines taking oil away from the Permian are at capacity, causing a buildup of WTI inventory at the Cushing, OK storage sites and depressing the price of WTI against Brent. Prices would be even lower if Venezuela and Iran weren’t causing further worries about global supply.

Iran’s truckers are on strike in 100 cities for the second time this year, causing fuel shortages. Meanwhile, the Iranian rial is rapidly losing its value, and the country’s biggest crude oil customers are cutting it off.

The collapse of Venezuelan oil production and fears of renewed sanctions on Iran are driving oil prices to 2014 levels, but what does that mean for the American economy and the trucking sector?