Reliance Industries has secured a US general licence that allows it to directly buy Venezuelan crude oil without breaching sanctions, according to a Reuters report.
Reuters quoted sources as saying that the licence, issued by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, permits the purchase, exportation and sale of Venezuelan-origin oil that has already been extracted, including the refining of that oil. It was granted after Reliance applied for it in early January.
FinancialExpress.com could not verify the news independently.
Move to diversify crude sources
The licence could help Reliance reduce its dependence on Russian crude, especially at a time when Indian refiners have been avoiding Russian oil imports for April delivery amid geopolitical pressures and trade negotiations with the United States.
Earlier this month, Reliance bought 2 million barrels of Venezuelan oil from trader Vitol, which was granted, along with Trafigura, U.S. licences to market and sell millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil after Maduro’s capture, as per Reuters. The move marked the company’s first such purchase from Venezuela in nearly a year, the report said.
Heavy Venezuelan crude tends to trade at a discount, which sources to Reuters confirm, could lower Reliance’s crude cost and help replace some Russian volumes in its refining slate.
US policy on Venezuelan oil
The issuance of the licence comes amid a broader shift in US policy on Venezuelan oil. Following the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this year, Washington has eased sanctions on the country’s energy sector, including facilitating a $2 billion oil supply deal with Caracas and a large reconstruction plan for its oil industry, Reuters said.
US President Donald Trump has also indicated that India might buy more oil from both the US and Venezuela as part of broader trade discussions, including cuts in punitive tariffs, Reuters reported, the report added.
Venezuelan oil and Reliance’s history
According to a report by PTI, Reliance Industries had been a regular buyer of Venezuelan crude before U.S. sanctions on the Nicolás Maduro regime in 2019–20 forced Indian refiners to halt direct imports.
The company resumed limited purchases when temporary sanctions relief was offered in 2024 and again returned to the market via intermediaries after Venezuelan barrels began flowing through traders this year, buying about 2 million barrels from Vitol for delivery. Prior to the sanctions period, state-run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) was also a consistent buyer of Venezuelan crude.
The recent window for purchases has also been used by IOC and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), which together bought about 2 million barrels of Venezuelan oil, around 1.5 million barrels for IOC’s Paradip refinery and 500,000 barrels for HPCL’s Visakhapatnam unit.
According to PTI, tapping Venezuelan supplies forms part of India’s broader effort to diversify crude sourcing at a time when imports from Russia are expected to decline.
Venezuelan grades from the Orinoco Belt are predominantly heavy and extra-heavy, making them well-suited to complex refineries such as Reliance’s Jamnagar complex, the PTI report added.
Such crude typically trades at a discount to global benchmarks and can be upgraded into higher-value fuels and petrochemical feedstocks, helping refiners improve margins, according to PTI.