Mumbai: Reliance Industries Ltd has been issued a general licence by the United States that will allow them to buy Venezuelan oil directly without violating sanctions, Reuters reported quoting sources familiar with the matter.
US officials had said after the capture of Venezuelan Pres
ident Nicolas Maduro that Washington would ease sanctions imposed on Venezuela’s energy industry to facilitate a $2 billion oil supply deal between Caracas and Washington, and an ambitious $100 billion reconstruction plan for the country’s oil industry.
A general licence will help Reliance purchase, exportation and sale of Venezuelan-origin oil that has already been extracted, including refining of such oil.
Reliance, which had applied for the licence early last month, did not respond to Reuters’ email request for comment.
There was no immediate response either from US Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Reliance and other Indian refiners are avoiding Russian oil purchases.