Iranian regime defies US sanctions: started unloading condensed oil sent to Venezuela

A shipment of 2.1 million barrels of condensate supplied by the National Petroleum Company of Iran (NIOC) to the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, the first of an exchange agreement between the two dictatorships, began unloading this week, according to two sources and tanker tracking data.

PDVSA and NIOC have entered into a medium-term contract swap Venezuelan heavy crude for Iranian condensate in a deal to boost the South American nation’s struggling oil exports amid the sanctions imposed by the United States.

The agreement should regulate the flow of diluents produce varieties of crude for export from the main oil region of Venezuela, the Orinoco Belt.

The condensate cargo reached Venezuelan waters late last week in the Iranian-flagged super-tanker Dino I, owned and operated by a NIOC unit, sources and the Vessel Watch Service say TankerTrackers.com.

The ship was unloading on Monday at PDVSA’s main oil terminal, JoseTankerTrackers.com noted, despite its banner showing it off the coast of Iran, a tactic often used by sanctioned oil producers to hide the real location of their fleets.

A second shipment of condensate of around 2.1 million barrels under the swap deal is expected to reach Venezuelan waters in the coming weeks., say the sources. Iranian tanker Dorena, whose transmitter also shows it in Iran, is on its way to Venezuela, TankerTrackers.com added.

The United States Department of the Treasury, meanwhile, told the agency Reuters last week what he was “concerned about reports of Iranian transactions with Venezuela involving petroleum and petroleum products.”

The swap deal officially began last week when a shipment of 1.9 million barrels of heavy crude left Venezuelan waters aboard the Iranian tanker. Congratulated, according to sources with knowledge of the agreement.

One of the people said that in principle The swap agreement is expected to last six months, with the possibility of an extension.

The swap deal would guarantee PDVSA a source of condensate, which it needs to dilute extra-heavy oil production in the Orinoco Belt, its largest producing region, residents said. This crude, very dense and with a high sulfur content, needs to be diluted for transport and export.

In return, Iran is expected to receive shipments of Venezuelan heavy oil that it can trade in Asia.said the individuals, who declined to be identified as they were not authorized to comment.

The dictatorships of Venezuela and Iran, both under Washington sanctions and whose state oil companies are blacklisted by the Treasury Department, They may also be subject to secondary sanctions that limit doing business with non-US companies. Despite this growing international pressure, the two regimes have stepped up their cooperation.

In Washington, a source familiar with the matter said the exchange was on the radar of U.S. officials as a possible violation of sanctions.so they have followed it to see how far it will go in practical terms.

Officials fear, the source said, that the supply of Iranian diluents provide financial assistance to Nicolás Maduro while negotiating with the opposition the possibility of elections.

An Iranian-flagged cargo ship that in 2020 delivered food to Venezuela and returned to Iran with alumina, the Golsan, landed at the end of August in the Venezuelan port of La Guaira and is now heading to Iran with undisclosed cargo, according to data from Refinitiv Eikon.

Iran provided food, medications and gasoline in Venezuela and equipment to repair the dilapidated refineries of PDVSA, while Venezuela has paid Iranian companies with aviation fuel, crude oil and the raw materials it produces.

(With information from Reuters)

Read on: