Page 7 - MEOG Week 42 2021

MEOG PIPELINES & TRANSPORT MEOG

Venezuela reportedly gearing

up to send heavy crude to Iran

IRAN VENEZUELA was reportedly preparing to send then loaded up its first cargo of Merey for export
about 2mn barrels of heavy crude oil to Iran to Iran in September. The government-owned
within the framework of a crude-for condensate Iranian company may use the Venezuelan bar-
swap as of October 16. rels as refinery feedstock or a blending compo-
On that date, Reuters reported that the Dino nent, but it may also seek to sell it to buyers in
I, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) owned by Asia, Reuters said.
National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC) was pre- NIOC is also due to send a second cargo of
paring to depart from the port of Jose, which is condensate to the South American state within
home to a terminal complex owned by Venezue- the next few weeks, the news agency noted. This
la’s national oil company (NOC) PdVSA. The shipment will be similar in size to the first, which
VLCC finished loading up with Merey grade was brought into Jose by a tanker that had shut
crude on October 15, according to documents off its transponder in a bid to evade the US sanc-
viewed by the news agency and a number of ves- tions regime.
sel tracking services. The US government is working to restrict
PdVSA is sending the heavy crude oil to Iran trade with both Iran and Venezuela, but when
after taking delivery of a shipment of 2.1mn bar- contacted by Reuters, Treasury Department offi-
rels of gas condensate in September. cials declined to say whether any of the parties
The state-owned company hopes to use those involved might be subjected to penalties.
Iranian volumes to increase output, as it often As of press time, neither PdVSA, NIOC nor
uses condensate to dilute its extra-heavy crude NITC had commented on the matter.
and make it easier to use. It has already directed PdVSA is keen to find new supplies of con-
the condensate to the Petrocedeno, Petropiar and densate so that it can support ongoing efforts to
Sinovensa projects, which are targeting oilfields bring its crude oil production up to 1.5mn bar-
in the Orinoco Belt. rels per day (bpd). The country has seen output
The Venezuelan NOC struck an agreement levels dip significantly since the imposition of US
with National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) on the sanctions specifically targeting the oil sector in
crude-for-condensate swap earlier this year and early 2019.™

Week 42 20•October•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7