India’s major refiner gets US approval to restart Venezuelan oil imports – Bloomberg

India’s largest privately owned refiner, Reliance Industries, has secured US approval to resume importing crude oil from Venezuela despite the sanctions on the South American country, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

People familiar with the matter told the outlet that the Indian refiner plans to start purchasing Venezuelan crude shortly.

The operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, Reliance accounted for around 90% of India’s crude imports from Venezuela after the sanctions were temporarily lifted last year, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.

Washington suspended restrictions on the country’s crucial energy industry after President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition agreed in October to hold a free and fair election in 2024 monitored by international observers.

The sanctions, however, were reinstated in April after the US claimed that Maduro had failed to adhere to democratic principles in the the run-up to the election. Maduro’s government in turn accused Washington of violating the 2023 Qatar-brokered accord.

Caracas has been under US sanctions for over 15 years. Washington refused to recognize Maduro as the country’s president following the 2018 election, and instead declared the head of the National Assembly, Juan Guaido, to be the interim leader of the country. In 2019, Guaido called for a popular uprising against Maduro, which ultimately failed. He then moved to live in Miami under US protection.

Since April, international oil companies have been applying for permits from the US Treasury Department to keep doing business in Venezuela.

According to data from Kpler, the South American nation’s crude exports rose to 654,000 barrels per day last month, the highest since April 2020.

Apart from Reliance, ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, has also applied for waivers to import crude from Venezuela, Bloomberg wrote.