Chevron tankers begin returning to Venezuela following new US license

At least three vessels that oil major Chevron had used to transport Venezuelan crude to the US were navigating toward the South American country's waters on Thursday, with exports expected to resume later this month following a new US license, according to shipping data and sources.

The US Treasury Department late last month authorized Chevron to operate in the sanctioned OPEC nation again, export its oil and do swaps with state company PDVSA through a restricted license banning any payments to Venezuela's government.

Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth last week said a small volume of exports from the country would resume later in August. The oil producer is now in negotiations with PDVSA to receive the first cargoes and reactivate a supply agreement with US-based Valero Energy.

Chevron-chartered tankers Mediterranean Voyager and Canopus Voyager were approaching the Caribbean island of Aruba, north of Venezuela's western coast on Thursday, vessel monitoring data by LSEG showed. A third ship, Sea Jaguar, was navigating from Europe with Aruba also its initial destination.

Chevron and PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Venezuela's oil exports fell to 727,000 barrels per day last month as PDVSA's joint venture partners, including Chevron and a handful of European companies, awaited US authorizations to resume operations.

(Reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Bill Berkrot)