Iran and Venezuela have reached an agreement to trade two grades of oil, giving Venezuela a new supply of extra-light crude that it can blend with its sulphurous and extra-heavy Merey oil for export. The deal – first reported by Reuters – will see shipments of Iranian condensate from the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) traded for shipments of crude from the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.

TankerTrackers.com has identified the first of the vessels affected by the swap, the Iranian-flagged VLCC Congratulated, at the Jose oil terminal complex in Venezuela.

The deal appears to violate US sanctions on the oil sectors of both countries. Iran faces tough US sanctions over its nuclear program, and virtually any organization could face execution sanctions from the US Treasury for buying Iranian oil, charting Iranian ships, or carrying out transactions. with the Iranian banking system. Likewise, PDVSA is subject to US sanctions for its role in supporting the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, which has retained power despite a crippling economic collapse, an attempted uprising and concerted attempts by the international community to replace it. by an opposition. political leader.

Since the two countries are already fully sanctioned, they face few additional sanctions for doing business with each other and they have traded commodities in the past. In May 2020, three Iranian-flagged tankers called at the Venezuelan terminal in Puerto Cabello to unload essential Iranian gasoline, which was in short supply. The Venezuelan government paid for the shipment in gold, a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed last September. The deal was worth around $ 500 million, according to Bloomberg.

“We will continue to apply our sanctions related to Iran and Venezuela,” a spokesperson for the Treasury told Reuters.

The United States has indicated that sanctions against Maduro’s regime could be relaxed if it moves towards free and fair elections. Venezuela’s opposition parties are currently negotiating with the Maduro government the details of a regional and municipal election on November 21, and they plan to participate, ending a string of boycotts of previous elections.