Traders rebrand Venezuelan oil for China as Brazilian, sources and tanker trackers say

Traders have rebranded more than $1 billion of Venezuelan oil shipments to China as Brazilian crude over the past year, according to two tanker tracking firms, company documents and four traders, helping buyers to cut logistics costs and circumvent U.S. sanctions. Independent refiners in China are the main buyers of seaborne oil shipments from countries sanctioned by the United States, with offshore Malaysia serving as a key trans-shipment hub for Venezuelan and Iranian crude. Since July 2024, however, traders have also rebranded Venezuelan oil as from Brazil.