RoydadNaft –  India’s state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) has bought Venezuelan oil for the first time ever, while private refiner HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) has purchased crude from the South American country for the first time in two years, three sources with knowledge of the deals said on Wednesday.

The two refiners each bought one million barrels of Venezuela’s Merey heavy crude grade, the sources said. The oil, acquired through two separate transactions, is due to be co-loaded onto a very large crude carrier (VLCC) to cut shipping costs. The purchases will push India’s imports of Venezuelan crude to at least 6 million barrels by the end of April, according to the sources.

BPCL and HMEL bought the Venezuelan oil from commodities trader Vitol, the sources added, speaking on condition of anonymity because the details are confidential. Pricing information was not immediately available.

Neither BPCL nor HMEL responded to Reuters’ requests for comment. Vitol declined to comment.

HMEL — a joint venture between state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal — last received Venezuelan crude in February 2024, according to trade flow data from LSEG and Kpler.

Indian refiners have turned to Venezuelan oil to diversify their supply sources as they scale back purchases of Russian crude — a shift that helped New Delhi secure an interim trade agreement with Washington. HMEL halted imports of Russian oil in October. Although the Indian government has made no official announcement about ending Russian oil imports, refiners in the country have increasingly steered clear of them.

Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corporation, and HPCL have previously bought Venezuelan crude at discounts of around $6.50–$7.00 per barrel below the Dubai benchmark. Since January, traders Vitol and Trafigura have been marketing and selling Venezuela’s oil under licences issued by the United States, as part of a supply arrangement between Caracas and Washington.

BPCL plans to split its cargo equally, discharging half at Kochi port in Kerala for its 310,000-barrels-per-day Kochi refinery, and the other half at Sikka port in Gujarat for its 156,000-bpd Bina refinery in central India.

HMEL brings its crude into Mundra port in Gujarat for its 226,000-bpd Bathinda refinery in northern India.

Venezuelan oil exports to the United States are also set to rise in April. Sources told Reuters that refiner Valero Energy is due to receive up to 6.5 million barrels of Venezuelan crude in March, while Chevron is sharply increasing shipments to the US and other American refiners are looking to buy directly from Venezuela.