Panama’s Ramón Carretero’s Role in the Shipment of Venezuelan Oil to Cuba
A photo provided by Vantor shows a satellite image from December 12, 2025, of the recently seized Venezuelan oil tanker, known as “The Skipper,” at sea about 33 kilometers north of Guadeloupe.
The recent seizure by the United States of the Skipper tanker off the coast of Venezuela has put Panamanian Ramón Carretero Napolitano in the spotlight. He is already being described openly as the main intermediary in the flow of oil traded between Venezuela and Cuba, according to documents from the state-owned PDVSA and sources close to the Venezuelan government cited by The New York Times (NYT). Carretero, who has faced sanctions from the U.S. Treasury Department since last Thursday, is identified as the key figure that coordinates shipments destined for Cuba, although only a fraction of the oil reaches the island, as most of it is resold to China.
According to internal PDVSA data, companies linked to Carretero have accounted for a quarter of the oil allocated by PDVSA for export so far this year. In fact, the Skipper was carrying oil contracted jointly by the state-owned company Cubametales and a company linked to Carretero, according to documents examined by the NYT in its report. The Skipper departed Venezuela on December 4th, carrying 50,000 barrels of oil. Although its final destination was Matanzas, its intended route was to Asia. Beforehand, it transferred part of its cargo at sea, from ship to ship; only that fraction of the oil actually reached Cuba. Shortly afterwards, on December 10, it was seized by the United States, while it was still sailing off the coast of Venezuela.
The following day, Carretero was added to the Clinton List, compiled by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) . Also listed were three nephews of Cilia Flores, wife of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The United States justified the sanctions by alleging that Carretero, in association with the “narco-nephews,” facilitates the shipment and sale of oil on behalf of the Venezuelan regime. To get an idea of the scale of the business involving Carretero, Cubametales has secured contracts to purchase approximately 65,000 barrels of Venezuelan oil per day so far this year, according to the NYT. This figure represents a 29% increase compared to 2024 and seven times more than in 2023. And these transactions involve this Panamanian as an “intermediary.” Cubametales, PDVSA, and the Skipper are also on the Clinton List, meaning all their assets in the United States have been blocked. The sanctions also prohibit U.S. citizens and entities from engaging in any financial or commercial transactions with individuals and companies listed by OFAC. Nothing has been heard from Carretero since the end of last September, when he was injured in a plane crash in Maiquetí, Venezuela.
