Indian refinery Reliance has provisionally chartered a non-sanctioned tanker to carry 1mn bl of Venezuelan crude to India's west coast, less than two weeks after US regulations shifted flows for the previously sanctioned exports.
Reliance this week put the Suezmax Ottoman Sincerity on subjects for a Venezuela-loading cargo destined for west coast India loading from 23-24 February at $7.2mn lumpsum. The 2017-built Ottoman Sincerity has operated in the Atlantic basin crude trade in the last year, calling at ports in west Africa, the US and Europe, suggesting it is firmly considered a mainstream vessel and not part of the shadow fleet.
The chartering rate was only $75,000 below yesterday's market level for Suezmaxes on the longer US Gulf coast-Singapore route, per Argus data, suggesting shipowners are no longer charging premiums for Venezuela loadings.
In January, shortly after Venezuelan president Maduro's ouster, Aframax operators were charging premiums equivalent to up to 40¢/bl for Venezuela loadings. India shifted further away from Russian crude after the US lifted sanctions on Venezuela crude exports at the end of January. Buyers elsewhere also began securing Venezuelan crude cargoes, sapping utilization away from shadow fleet vessels towards mainstream ones.
Indian refiners have yet to receive specific instructions from their government, but have already scaled back Russian crude buying and taken on Venezuelan cargoes, as well as from other parts of the Americas, the Mideast Gulf and west Africa.
Ecopetrol last week put a very large crude carrier (VLCC) on subjects for a Colombia-loading voyage with options to discharge on either the east or west coast of India. Petrobras thus far in February has put at least two VLCCs on subjects for Brazil-India voyages.
