Since November 2020, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) has been carrying Venezuelan crude on three tankers it acquired that year from PetroChina, affiliated with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Reuters reported Friday citing unnamed sources as well as tanker tracking data.

According to the report, CNPC stopped carrying Venezuelan oil in August 2019 after the US tightened its sanctions against the Central American exporter, though it continued to find its way to China via traders who rebranded the fuel as Malaysian.

The three CASIC tankers load in Venezuela with their transponders active, allowing third-party tracking, Eikon data showed.

The Chinese company has so far taken 13 cargoes carrying a total of nearly 25 million barrels of oil, including two vessels due to arrive in China next month, the report added, citing loading schedules of Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA, and tanker tracking data from Refinitiv and Vortexa Analytics.

The 13 shipments, worth about $1.5 billion at formula prices for Venezuela's flagship-grade Merey crude, were declared "crude oil" at Chinese customs, without specifying origin, according to one of the sources cited in the report.