Reliance Industries has reportedly received approval from the United States to resume importing oil from Venezuela, despite existing sanctions. This news was confirmed by a source familiar with the situation on Wednesday.
In April, the U.S. re-imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector due to President Nicolas Maduro’s failure to fulfill election commitments. However, the U.S. indicated that certain firms would be authorized to engage in trade and operations within Venezuela.
Reliance had previously been the second-largest individual buyer of Venezuelan crude oil after China’s CNPC before U.S. sanctions were first enacted in 2019. After the U.S. Treasury Department initially denied licenses to Indian refiners, including Reliance, following the easing of sanctions in October, the company resubmitted a request for authorization to import Venezuelan crude in May.
Despite the sanctions, Indian refiners had continued to purchase Venezuelan oil through intermediaries until the sanctions were reintroduced in June. Additionally, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is also seeking a waiver from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control to import crude oil from Venezuela.