As being reported by Reuters, a ship laden with cargo consisting of Libyan crude oil is parked off the coast of Texas and Louisiana and unable to discharge such cargo because it may cause a violation of the recently imposed U.S. sanctions against Libya. The ship is reportedly parked off the U.S. Gulf Coast’s refinery row, on the border of Port Arthur, Texas and Lake Charles, Louisiana.

As Reuters reported, a specific license can be applied for in those instances where Libyan goods were in transit on or before 8:00 pm on Friday, February 25, 2011. Such license would be applied for by those parties who served as the purchaser in the transaction. As I commented in another article today, there has been no indication that OFAC will expedite consideration of the license applications in this case. That is not to say they will not expedite processing. OFAC has been known to expedite a license application if good cause is shown for such expedited processing.

If OFAC does not expeditiously address any forthcoming specific license applications in regards to this matter then that crude oil could be sitting off the coast of Texas and Louisana for months or even longer.

The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in OFAC matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.