Trader Vitol sells Venezuelan oil to Indian refiners, trade sources say By Reuters

By Nidhi Verma and Marianna Parraga

NEW DELHI/HOUSTON (Reuters) – Two Indian state refiners bought 2 million barrels of Venezuelan crude from trading house Vitol for delivery in November, trade sources said, as supplies to what was previously the second-largest Venezuela’s large oil market continues to grow.

Indian refiners resumed imports of Venezuelan crude earlier this year after the US Treasury Department cleared deals for crude oil and fuel exports despite sanctions targeting President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

India’s top refiner, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), is set to receive 1.2 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, while Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) will receive 800,000 barrels of oil, the sources said. directly about this issue.

Vitol, the US Treasury, Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, IOC and MRPL did not respond to Reuters emails seeking comment.

The Venezuelan Merey 16 crude cargo is loaded onto the vessel Boston for MRPL, according to Kpler data.

While IOC’s 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) Paradip refinery can process Venezuelan oil, MRPL has limited appetite for heavier grades such as Merey and has rarely bought oil from Venezuela.

In July, India’s Reliance Industries Ltd received US clearance to resume importing oil from Venezuela, sources said. Reliance’s deal to buy Venezuelan oil includes a swap for heavy naphtha, used by PDVSA’s associates to dilute its extra-heavy oil and produce exportable grades.

Reliance received a cargo of Venezuelan oil last month loaded onto the vessel Degas, Kpler data show.

The oil cargoes on the Boston and Degas tankers were reported by PDVSA as being sold to middlemen and not to end buyers, documents seen by Reuters show.

It was unclear whether Vitol has a license or is reselling the crude oil it bought from another licensed company.

A shipping source said some of PDVSA’s joint venture partners, based mainly in Europe and with US licenses to lift Venezuelan oil, have resold some of their cargoes to traders.