Reliance Industries secures US licence to import Venezuelan crude oil

Key facts

• Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) received a US general licence to purchase Venezuelan crude oil directly without violating sanctions.
• The licence enables RIL to resume discounted heavy crude imports suited to its Jamnagar refinery configuration and optimise refining margins.
• RIL operates the world’s largest single-site refining complex at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
• RIL bought 2 million barrels from trader Vitol when Venezuelan oil flowed through traders this year.
• State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) jointly bought 2 million barrels: 1.5 million barrels for IOC’s Paradip refinery, Odisha, and 500,000 barrels for HPCL’s Visakhapatnam unit, Andhra Pradesh.
• Venezuelan crude grades from the Orinoco Belt are predominantly heavy and extra-heavy, trading at deep discounts.
• US President Donald Trump stated Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil and purchase more from the US and possibly Venezuela after a US-India trade deal that led the US to drop 25 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.