Reliance Industries, India’s largest privately owned refiner, has secured approval from the US to resume crude oil imports from Venezuela, notwithstanding the ongoing sanctions.

What Happened: The US has given the nod to Reliance Industries to restart oil imports from the South American nation, despite White House’s sanctions, according to Bloomberg.

The company is slated to start buying Venezuelan crude soon. Following the lifting of sanctions last year, Reliance reportedly accounted for nearly 90% of India’s crude imports from Venezuela, according to data intelligence firm Kpler.

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After a brief suspension of restrictions on Venezuela’s gold and oil sectors last year, sanctions were reimposed in April when Venezuela failed to adhere to an agreement for free and fair elections. Consequently, oil firms have been seeking permits from the U.S. Treasury Department to continue operations in the country.

Venezuela’s crude exports surged to 6.54 lakh barrels a day in June, the highest since April 2020, after the US issued a specific license for companies to continue drilling in the country despite the sanctions.

In addition to Reliance, ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has also sought waivers to import crude from Venezuela.

Price Action: Shares of Reliance Industries jumped after the news broke. It was trading 0.85% higher at ₹3,001.95 on Wednesday morning.

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