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The Indian group Reliance Industries, operator of the largest oil refining complex in the world, said Friday in a statement that it did not violate US sanctions against Venezuela.
The company said its recent fuel exports to Venezuela were accepted before Washington imposed sanctions in January, and that they were intended to settle Reliance crude oil imports from Venezuela.
Reliance said that she was "in constant communication with the US State Department regarding her activities in Venezuela" since the imposition of sanctions.
The State Department sent a request for comment to the Treasury Department, which did not immediately respond.
Reliance's statement comes one day after Reuters announced that the conglomerate was selling Indian and European fuels to Venezuela in order to avoid the sanctions that prohibit US-based companies from banning the management of PDVSA, according to commercial sources and data Refinitiv Eikon ..
"The few deliveries of Reliance's transportation fuel to Venezuela, treated as offsets for crude oil receipts, were incurred and are in transit while there were no specific restrictions on these transactions. These are all refined fuels in India, "Reliance said.
Reliance provided Venezuela, through its US subsidiary, with alkylates, diluent naphtha and other fuels, before Washington imposed sanctions to limit oil exports by this OPEC member and overthrow Socialist President Nicolas Maduro.
Reliance, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is particularly exposed to the financial system of the United States, where it operates in particular subsidiaries related to its oil and telecommunications activities.
Additional sanctions related to Venezuela are possible in the future as the administration of US President Donald Trump has not yet tried to prevent companies based outside the United States from buying Venezuelan oil.
Reliance said it has been transparent to the US authorities and has provided detailed information to Washington in formulating and adjusting its policy on shipments to Venezuela.
"Reliance is not only consistent with US sanctions laws, but has also done its best to adapt its Venezuelan relationship on a voluntary basis to reflect ongoing changes in US policy," the report said. communicated.
Reliance reiterated that it had stopped shipments of dilution naphtha to Venezuela and had reduced its purchases of Venezuelan crude oil to a level well below its contractual levels.
In 2012, Reliance signed a 15-year contract to purchase 300,000 to 400,000 bpd of heavy crude oil from PDVSA. Ship tracking data show that Reliance's average purchases in Venezuela were less than 300,000 barrels per day in 2018 and in the first two months of this year.
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