Iran's oil minister Javad Owji met with his Venezuelan counterpart Tarek El Aissami in Caracas yesterday while on an unannounced trip to the Venezuelan capital.
Venezuela's oil ministry said the meeting focused on ways the sanctioned allies can deepen their cooperation on oil, gas and petrochemical projects, and broader Opec and Opec+ issues.
The two countries followed up on "various agreements" previously established between them, particularly those related to "hydrocarbons." Several new energy cooperation deals were also signed between the two Opec members during this visit, according to one source with knowledge of the meetings.
Owji's meeting with El Aissami was also attended by Asdrubal Chavez, chief executive of Venezuela's state-owned PdV, and followed up by a second meeting with Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro.
"I received His Excellency Javad Owji, minister of oil of the sister Islamic Republic of Iran," Maduro said on Twitter. "A productive meeting to deepen the ties of brotherhood and cooperation, in energy matters."
The Iranian minister's visit to Caracas has not been reported by Iran's oil ministry or any of its state news channels.
The meeting comes as relations between the two countries have strengthened, particularly on the energy side.
Iran has been sending cargoes of condensate to Venezuela since the third quarter of last year to help the South American Opec producer with its crude production recovery.
The cargoes are part of a swap deal: Iranian condensate for Venezuelan heavy crude. PdV uses the condensate to dilute and upgrade extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco belt into exportable volumes. This, along with using part of local refinery yields to do the same, has enabled Venezuela to boost its production since the fourth quarter of last year.
Production jumped by 230,000 b/d — or 44pc — from 520,000 b/d in September to a 22-month high of 750,000 b/d in December, according to Argus estimates, although output has dipped since, averaging 710,000 b/d in March.
The swap agreement also benefits Iran as it helps it offload a glut of condensate it has accrued in tankers owned by Iran's state-owned tanker company NITC that is has been unable to sell due to the US sanctions that have been in place on its economy and oil sector since former US President Donald Trump exited the Iran nuclear deal in 2018.
The Venezuelan ministry said El Aissami was "pleased" with the position Iran has assumed "in the construction of routes and mechanisms to overcome the unilateral coercive measures imposed by the US government and allied countries."
