Iran is reportedly shipping some heavy oil from Venezuela.
According to documents seen by Reuters and vessel tracking services, on Saturday, Dino I, a very large crude carrier (VLCC) owned and operated by National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC)'s National Iranian Tanker Co. (NITC) was about to set sail from Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA)’s Jose port.
On Friday, the supertanker had finished loading 2 million barrels of heavy-crude Venezuelan Merey crude after exchanging it with 2.1 million barrels of Iranian condensate after arriving in September. The Iranian light oil fed PDVSA's Petrolera Sinovensa, Petropiar and Petrocedeno projects.
A second condensate cargo of similar size is expected to be delivered to Venezuela in the coming weeks as part of the swap routine. The routine’s first phase will be in effect for six months starting September.
The deal between Iran and Venezuela could be a breach of US sanctions.
