A subsidiary of India’s Reliance Industries has commenced loading a 2-million-barrel shipment of Venezuelan heavy crude oil directly purchased from the state-owned energy company PDVSA. This development was confirmed through company documentation and shipping data released on Monday.
Since Caracas entered a key oil supply agreement with Washington following the US capture of President Nicolas Maduro in January, only a limited number of firms have been authorized to buy cargoes directly from PDVSA. The proceeds from these sales remain under the control of the United States via bank accounts managed by the Treasury Department, with all commercial terms required to comply with US regulatory guidelines as per the licenses issued for such trade.
In a significant development on Monday, the Bahamas-flagged supertanker Helios, chartered by Reliance’s US-based unit RIL USA, arrived at PDVSA’s Jose terminal on Venezuela’s eastern coast and began loading its cargo of Merey heavy crude destined for Reliance’s refinery at Sikka port in India. This information was verified through official documents and vessel tracking data from LSEG.
Neither Reliance nor PDVSA provided immediate comments on the transaction. Notably, Venezuela’s crude oil exports to India resumed in late February after a 10-month hiatus, facilitated by sales through US oil company Chevron and trading firms Vitol and Trafigura to various Indian refiners. Shipping data indicates these exports have contributed to a significant reduction of millions of barrels in Venezuela’s oil inventories in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, the supertankers heading to India have also accelerated the loading process at Jose, Venezuela’s primary oil port, thereby boosting the country’s overall crude export capacity. Vessel tracking data reveals that Venezuela’s oil shipments to India surged to approximately 342,000 barrels per day in March, a sharp increase from 35,000 barrels per day recorded in February.
