Tribune News Network
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Reliance Industries has received approval from the United States to resume importing oil from Venezuela, Bloomberg News reported on July 24, citing people aware of the development.
The nod comes months after the refiner resubmitted a license request to the US to import crude oil from sanctioned Venezuela and resume trade between the OPEC producer and the once second-largest destination for its oil.
Reliance did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment. Indian refiners resumed purchasing Venezuelan oil through intermediaries after Washington temporarily lifted its curbs on the South American country last October.
The sanctions were imposed in 2019 in response to President Nicolas Maduro’s failure to meet his election commitments.
Before US oil sanctions were first imposed on Venezuela in 2019, Reliance was the second-largest individual buyer of Venezuelan crude after China’s CNPC.
Reliance had re-submitted a request to the US in May for authorisation to import crude oil from Venezuela, after the US Treasury refused to grant licences to Indian refiners including Reliance following the easing of sanctions inOctober.
Additionally, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp has sought a waiver from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control to lift crude oil from Venezuela, according to an industry source.
On April 18, 2024, the Biden administration announced that it would not renew a license that had partially eased sanctions on Venezuela since October. This license had been part of a US-backed election agreement between the Venezuelan government and the opposition in Barbados.
