India’s state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp has made its first-ever purchase of Venezuelan crude oil, and private refiner HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) has bought Venezuelan oil for the first time in two years, according to sources familiar with the transactions.
Both refiners bought one million barrels each of Venezuela’s heavy Merey crude grade in separate deals. The shipments are expected to be co-loaded on a very large crude carrier (VLCC) to reduce shipping costs, boosting India’s Venezuelan oil imports to at least 6 million barrels through April.
The crude was purchased from global trader Vitol, the sources said, though price details were not immediately available. Neither Bharat Petroleum nor HMEL responded to requests for comment, and Vitol declined to comment.
HMEL, a joint venture between state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp and industrialist Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, last received Venezuelan oil in February 2024, trade data showed.
Indian refiners have increasingly turned to Venezuelan crude to diversify their oil supply as they scale back Russian oil imports, a strategy that helped New Delhi secure an interim trade deal with Washington. HMEL stopped importing Russian oil in October, and while the government has not formally ended Russian crude purchases, refiners are avoiding it.
Previously, Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corp, and HPCL also bought Venezuelan oil at significant discounts to the Dubai benchmark. Traders Vitol and Trafigura have been marketing Venezuelan crude under U.S.-granted licenses since January as part of a broader supply arrangement between Caracas and Washington.
BPCL plans to discharge its cargo at Kochi port in Kerala for its 310,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) Kochi refinery, and at Sikka port in Gujarat for its 156,000-bpd Bina refinery. HMEL will bring its cargo into Mundra port in Gujarat for its 226,000-bpd Bathinda refinery.
Venezuelan oil exports to the U.S. are also expected to rise, with Valero Energy projected to receive up to 6.5 million barrels of Venezuelan crude in March, while Chevron accelerates shipments and other U.S. refineries seek direct purchases.
