By Marianna Parraga and Sarah McFarlane

HOUSTON/LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) – Four tankers carrying over 2 million barrels of U.S. crude are caught at sea and can’t discharge at a Caribbean terminal as a result of Venezuela’s PDVSA has not but paid provider BP Plc, in response to two sources and Thomson Reuters vessel monitoring information.

The cargoes are a part of a young Petroleos de Venezuela , often called PDVSA, awarded in March to BP and China Oil. The deal was to import some 8 million barrels of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude so Venezuela might dilute its additional heavy crudes and feed its Caribbean refineries.

While three cargoes for this tender had been delivered in April, seven different vessels, together with BP’s 4 employed ones, are ready to discharge, leaving as much as 3.85 million barrels of WTI in limbo.

PDVSA didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

The firm’s money crunch, which additionally affected its oil imports late final 12 months, have added to a backlog of tankers since March on account of malfunctioning loading arms at Jose, Venezuela’s major crude port.

PDVSA initially provided to pay for the imports with Venezuelan oil, however negotiations for these swaps failed because the proposed loading home windows and crude grades didn’t work for BP, a supply near the talks mentioned.

Amid low crude costs, declining exports and a brutal recession at dwelling, PDVSA has since 2015 delayed funds to suppliers. As a consequence, service companies together with Schlumberger , Halliburton and Petrex have curtailed operations within the OPEC nation.

The cost delays are additionally elevating questions on who pays for demurrage, or the each day prices for delays. Three of the BP tankers have been anchored for over 30 days.

As China already lifts Venezuelan crude as a part of broader oil-for-loans offers, its firms have agreed on swaps for this tender, the sources mentioned.

PORT PROBLEMS

Issues with loading arms to obtain tankers at Jose port have doubled wait occasions for shippers since March.

PDVSA mentioned in a press release that set up of substitute gear within the port’s southern dock had been efficiently concluded on Tuesday.

Some 30 soiled tankers are at the moment ready round PDVSA’s ports in Venezuela and Curacao.

PDVSA has grow to be one of many largest patrons of U.S. crude since final month even with a slender arbitrage that makes most exports unattractive, analysts have mentioned, however cost delays might stymie its bid to proceed imports. (Reporting by Marianna Parraga in Houston and Sarah McFarlane in London, with further reporting by Alexandra Ulmer in Caracas; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Toni Reinhold)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016.