Chinese oil trading companies are mulling over a halt in chartering tankers that have called at Venezuelan ports over the past year as Washington steps up sanctions against the Caracas government, Reuters has reported , citing unnamed sources from the shipping industry. This time, the focus of attention of the U.S. administration is shipping companies and more specifically, tanker owners and users. The vessels will be added to a blacklist, according to plans, and some that are en route to Venezuela are already turning back, according to the Reuters sources. “Anything on the potential sanctions list will just become toxic,” one of the sources said. “No one will touch it until it’s clear what the rules will be.” Bloomberg, meanwhile, cited another unnamed source who said Washington was planning to add as many as 50 tankers to its blacklist and will seek to cut off oil and fuel trade […]