India's Bharat Petroleum, HPCL Mittal buy Venezuelan oil, sources say

By Shariq Khan and Nidhi Verma

NEW YORK/NEW DELHI, Feb 18 (Reuters) - India's state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp BPCL.NS has made its first-ever purchase of Venezuelan oil, and private refiner HPCL Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) has bought the South American country's crude for the first time in two years, three sources familiar with the trade said on Wednesday.

The two refiners have bought a million barrels each of Venezuela's Merey crude grade, the sources said. The heavy oil, purchased through two separate deals, is planned to be co-loaded on a very large crude carrier to save on shipping cost, and will boost India's imports of Venezuelan crude to at least 6 million barrels through April, the sources said.

Bharat Petroleum and HMEL purchased the Venezuelan oil from trader Vitol, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential details. The price details were not immediately known.

BPCL and HMEL did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. Vitol declined to comment.

HMEL, a joint venture of state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp HPCL.NS and steel tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, previously received Venezuelan oil in February 2024, trade flow data from LSEG and Kpler showed.

Indian refiners have been buying Venezuelan oil to diversify their supply mix as they reduce Russian oil imports, a move that helped New Delhi clinch an interim trade deal with Washington. HMEL suspended Russian oil imports in October. New Delhi has not officially announced any plans to end oil imports from Russia, but Indian refiners have been avoiding Russian oil.

Reliance Industries, Indian Oil Corp and HPCL have previously bought Venezuelan oil at around $6.5-$7 per barrel below the Dubai crude oil benchmark. Traders Vitol and Trafigura have been marketing and selling the South American country's oil since January under licenses granted by the U.S. as part of a supply deal between Caracas and Washington.

BPCL will split the cargo equally for discharge at Kochi port in the southern state of Kerala for its 310,000 barrel-per-day Kochi refinery, and at Sikka port in western Gujarat state for its 156,000-bpd Bina refinery in central India.

HMEL imports crude through the Mundra port in western Gujarat state for its 226,000-bpd Bathinda refinery in northern India.

Exports of Venezuelan oil to the U.S. are also expected to pick up in April, with refiner Valero Energy VLO.N set to receive up to 6.5 million barrels of Venezuelan crude in March, Chevron rapidly boosting shipments from the country to the U.S. and other U.S. refiners seeking direct purchases from Venezuela, sources have told Reuters.