Venezuela resumes oil exports to Europe as Russia-Ukraine war triggers high gas prices: Report

Venezuela is all set to start its oil exports to Europe two years after the US announced sanctions on the South American country on charges of undermining democracy. The fresh exports come as Europe is looking to cut its crude imports from Russia in the wake of war against Ukraine.

A 650,000-barrel-cargo of Venezuela’s oil chartered by Italy’s Eni is about to take off, Reuters news agency reported citing Refinitiv Eikon data on Friday.

Apart from that, a second tanker chartered by Eni, the very large crude carrier (VLCC) Pantanassa, is currently sailing towards Venezuela and expected to load 2 million barrels of the same grade, diluted crude oil (DCO), and take it to Europe, according to the Eikon data.

That cargo is expected to be delivered by Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA later this month with an option for Eni to sell a portion of the crude to Spain’s Repsol for its Cartagena and Bilbao refineries, according to the document and sources.

In May, the US State Department sent letters to Eni and Spain’s Repsol authorising them to resume Venezuelan crude imports as a way to settle billions of dollars of unpaid debt and dividends owed by the OPEC-member nation.

The oil exports is likely to provide a major relief to the Venezuelan economy which is burdened with debt as its inflation rate reached stratospheric levels in 2018.

According to British oil and gas company BP, Venezuela has the world's biggest oil reserves.

In 2019, the US imposed oil sanctions on Venezuela under the Trump administration due to ongoing human rights violations by President Nicolás Maduro. Under President Biden, there were discussions about reopening some trade links by allowing crude-for-diesel exchanges on humanitarian grounds, although this never came to fruition.

The White House announced in May that it was reconsidering its restrictions on Venezuelan oil, entering discussions with Maduro.

(With imports from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE