Indian State Refiners Seek to Import Venezuelan Crude

Indian state-owned refiners have started negotiations to purchase Venezuelan crude, after Venezuelan authorities agreed to give crude oil to an ONGC subsidiary against its accrued dividend, an oil minister said, cited by S&P Commodity Insights.

• "We are awaiting the dates to lift crude cargoes from Venezuela," Pankaj Jain, India's petroleum secretary, said recently.
• "Venezuelan authorities have agreed to give crude oil to India against OVL's accrued dividend," said an oil ministry official.
• OVL, the overseas arm of ONGC, picked up a 40% stake in the San Cristobal Field in Venezuela in 2008. PDVSA holds the remaining 60% stake in the project. The dividend accrued for OVL’s investments is around $600mn.
• "To accommodate Venezuelan grades, refiners may need to substitute crude from their existing sources, potentially opting for lower-margin options, especially sour grades from the Middle East, the US, and other Latin American regions," said Sumit Ritolia, refinery economics analyst at S&P Global Commodity Insights.
• "With Venezuelan crude available in the market and some Indian refiners expressing interest in purchasing discounted Venezuelan crude to diversify their imports and capitalize on refining margins at the expense of some sour Middle Eastern grades, India's crude import strategy is at a crucial and intriguing phase," he added.