Dutch Caribbean island Curaçao may become a key transit hub for Venezuelan oil under a new US-led export plan, with prime minister Gilmar Pisas calling the first shipment an economic opportunity for the island.

Curacao, which has the status of an independent country within the kingdom of the Netherlands, had a booming oil industry for decades but its Isla refinery and storage facility closed down several years ago.

Successive governments have tried to breathe new life into the island’s oil activities, which once employed nearly a thousand people, broadcaster NOS said on Thursday.

This week, the tanker MV Regina docked on the island this week carrying the first part of a planned 4.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude earmarked for export by the United States.

Pisas welcomed the arrival publicly, presenting the development as a chance to revive Curaçao’s dormant oil sector. The refinery has been out of operation since 2019, but the island still has storage capacity for about 17 million barrels and a strategic position between Venezuela and international shipping routes.

According to news agency Bloomberg, several more tankers are expected to follow. The logistics are being handled by commodities traders Vitol and Trafigura, both headquartered in the Netherlands.

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Sources involved in talks at the White House told Reuters the two firms are willing to take greater political and legal risks than larger oil majors.

According to commodity news website Argos, Curacao asked the US to let it do business with Venezuela’s state oil company PdV and reopen the Isla refinery in November last year.

Questions have been raised internationally about the legal basis for exporting Venezuela’s natural resources. While Venezuela’s interim leadership has publicly condemned the removal of former president Nicolás Maduro, it appears to be cooperating quietly with the oil shipments, according to broadcaster NOS.

To attract buyers, traders are reportedly offering discounts of around $6.50 a barrel, with discussions under way with companies in India and China.