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Oil: Will the coup de grace of the Venezuelan regime come from China?

The news, broadcast by the site of the Venezuelan online newspaper El Estimulo , is taken up by the Spanish press: China suspends the activities of its national oil company in the Venezuelan oil fields.

Will the coup de grace of Nicolas Maduro's regime come from China, yet officially its faithful ally? The Spanish newspaper ABC publishes in any case the letter of a subsidiary of CNPC, the Chinese public oil giant: the engineering company HQC announces to its Sino-Venezuelan customer Sinovensa that it suspends its activities on a heavy oil field , in the Orinoco. The reason given in this letter: an outstanding amount of less than $ 43 million.

The debt of the Venezuelan company PDVSA was not yet a real problem for the Caracas allies. China, like Russia, continued to be reimbursed in cargoes of crude.

US sanctions weigh

But new US sanctions are beginning to worry Venezuela's foreign partners. In January, Washington imposed a first round of targeted sanctions on the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA: its assets had been seized in the United States, and it was forbidden to use the dollar in payment for its oil exports, where the development of payments in euros or against debt.

►To listen too: Venezuela, a sick oil sector

But last August 5, Washington extended its threats to all companies that would "materially" help the regime of Nicolas Maduro. Coincidentally, the suspension of Chinese CNPC activities on the Venezuelan deposit is announced a few hours before the entry into force of the new sanctions Washington, Wednesday, September 4.

Interruption of Chinese direct purchases

China had already stopped direct imports of Venezuelan oil last month. The same Chinese public company CNPC had already canceled the embarkation of the 5 million barrels which it had nevertheless to receive in the month of August. It was a first blow for the regime of Nicolas Maduro on the part of Beijing. Even though China continues to buy oil indirectly, via the Russian company Rosneft, its imports have plunged for two months.

At less than 350,000 barrels per day now, Venezuelan oil accounts for only 3.5% of China's purchases. The American market, at stake in the trade war with Donald Trump, weighs otherwise heavier. Beijing would like to make a concession to Washington at the expense of Caracas that she would not do otherwise.