* August loadings suspended, new agreement not yet in place
* Decision follows meetings with U.S. officials
* CNPC awaits further U.S. guidelines(Adds sources, context on China-Venezuela relationship,details; adds byline, dateline)
By Chen Aizhu and Marianna Parraga
SINGAPORE/MEXICO CITY, Aug 19 (Reuters) - China NationalPetroleum Corp, a leading buyer of Venezuelan oil, has haltedAugust loadings following the latest U.S. sanctions on the SouthAmerican exporter, three sources with direct knowledge of thematter told Reuters on Monday.
The Trump administration in early August froze allVenezuelan government assets in the United States and U.S.officials ratcheted up threats against companies that dobusiness with Venezuela's state-run oil company, Petróleos deVenezuela, S.A., or PDVSA.
"Trump's executive order gave a directive for the follow-upsanction measures that shall be announced by the U.S.Treasury... CNPC is worried that the company is likely to be hitby the secondary sanctions," said one source.
A CNPC spokesman declined to comment. PDVSA and Venezuela'sinformation ministry did not immediately respond to requests forcomment.
A second person, an executive with a large marketer ofVenezuelan oil in China, said his company had been notified ofthe suspension.
"We were told that Chinaoil will not load any oil in August.We don't know what will happen after," he said.
Chinaoil is the trading vehicle of CNPC that buys mostVenezuelan crude under term contracts and is one of Caracas' topclients. PetroChina, another of CNPC's subsidiaries, also is adirect buyer of Venezuelan oil. Both were struggling to chartervessels willing to load at the OPEC-member nation's ports due tosanctions, according to traders.
The suspension caught PDVSA by surprise, according to one ofthe sources, but it could be temporary if CNPC is able to put inplace a new arrangement excluding units involved in businesseswith the United States. A new deal has not yet been reached, twoseparate sources with knowledge of the decision said.
The sources declined to be identified as they are notauthorized to speak to the media.
Most deliveries of Venezuelan oil and refined products toCNPC's units are intended to monetize billions of dollars lentby China to Venezuela through oil-for-loan pacts. PDVSA hasnever failed to deliver crude to China to pay off debts,although refinancing and grace periods have been agreed uponover the last decade to ease the debt burden.
CNPC will wait for more guidelines from the U.S. Treasurybefore further moves in dealing with Venezuelan oil, one of thesources said.
The suspension followed recent communications between theU.S. and Chinese governments, including a meeting between U.S.embassy officials in Beijing and top management at CNPC, thesource added.
The White House imposed sanctions on Venezuela's oilindustry in January in an effort to unseat socialist PresidentNicolas Maduro, whose re-election in 2018 is viewed by much ofthe Western Hemisphere as illegitimate.
The executive order Trump issued on Aug. 5 did notexplicitly sanction non-U.S. companies that do business withVenezuela's state-run PDVSA, including partners in crudeoperations like France's Total SA, Norway's EquinorASA, as well as Russian and Chinese customers.
However, the order threatens to freeze U.S. assets of anyperson or company determined to have "materially assisted" theVenezuelan government.
Beijing has become increasingly pragmatic in recent years inan amply supplied global oil market and as Venezuela's economyplunged deeper into recession.
For the first six months of this year, China imported 8.67million tonnes of crude oil from Venezuela, or roughly 350,000barrels per day, about 3.5% of its total imports, according toChinese customs data.
In July, Venezuela exported 563,000 bpd of crude and fuel toChina, mostly through CNPC and Russia's Rosneft,according to the PDVSA's internal data and Refinitiv Eikonvessel tracking data. The nation is now Venezuela's primarydestination for its oil.(Reporting by Chen Aizhu and Marianna Parraga; additionalreporting by Brian Ellsworth in Caracas; Editing by NeilFullick, Richard Pullin and Dan Grebler)