India’s largest private refiner, Reliance Industries, is buying Venezuelan crude again, securing the first Indian purchase of oil from the world’s top reserves holder since the U.S. took control of Venezuela’s oil sales early last month.
Reliance Industries has purchased a cargo of around 2 million barrels, an anonymous source with knowledge of the deal told Bloomberg on Friday.
Reliance Industries last bought crude from Venezuela in the middle of 2025, under a special waiver from the U.S. Administration from mid-2024.
Last month, Reliance Industries said it would consider buying Venezuelan crude again if sales are permitted to non-U.S. buyers.
The latest purchase signals that India would be taking Venezuelan crude going forward as it looks to replace a lot of Russian supply if it wants to honor the trade deal with the United States. The deal for lower U.S. tariffs on Indian goods is conditional upon India slashing its imports of Russian crude.
Before the U.S. sanctions on Russia’s top producers Rosneft and Lukoil, Reliance Industries of Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani was the biggest buyer of Russian crude oil, importing more than 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) thanks to a long-term deal with Rosneft.
However, the Indian refiner halted all Rosneft purchases in the wake of the U.S. sanctions and took to procuring crude from non-Russian sources.
Indian state-run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) is also exploring potential purchases of crude from Venezuela after stopping imports of Russian oil.
MRPL is actively weighing the opportunity to buy Venezuelan crude oil if the commercial terms, including freight rates, are favorable, MRPL’s head of finance Devendra Kumar said in January.
Two of the world’s biggest independent traders, Vitol and Trafigura, which last month were tapped by U.S. to help market Venezuela’s crude, are offering Venezuelan oil to India and China for March and April delivery.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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