Essar Raises Venezuela Oil Imports at Iran's Expense

Indian private refiner Essar Oil's imports from Iran fell by three-quarters in August from a year ago, as it boosted purchases from Venezuela, according to tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources and ship-tracking services on the Thomson Reuters terminal.

Russian oil major Rosneft and its partners, including global trader Trafigura and Russian fund UCP, closed the $12.9 billion deal to acquire a 98.3% stake in Essar Oil last month.

Russia's Rosneft, which has stakes in Venezuelan upstream assets and oil purchase contracts with state-owned PDVSA, planned to supply Venezuelan oil to the 400,000-bpd Vadinar refinery in western India, Reuters reported last year.

Essar shipped in 60,800 barrels per day of oil from Iran in August, a drop of about 60% from July, the data showed.

In contrast, its Venezuelan imports more than doubled to about 172,000 bpd from about 63,000 bpd in July and about 67,000 bpd a year ago, the data showed. In the first eight months of the year, the refiner received 18% less oil from Iran at about 140,000 bpd, the data showed.

India imported 335,400 barrels per day of oil from Iran in August, the lowest level since February 2016, posting a fall of about 42% from a year ago, according to a Reuters report.

August imports from Iran were down 19.2% compared with July, the data showed, as the world's third largest oil importer is reducing intake of Iranian oil in retaliation to Tehran's decision to award a giant gas field to a Russian company, Economic Times reported.