Vitol Offers Venezuelan Crude Oil to China at Narrower Discount
(Bloomberg) -- Vitol Group has offered Venezuelan cargoes to Chinese buyers at discounts of around $5 a barrel to ICE Brent, testing Asia’s appetite for the South American nation’s benchmark heavy, sour crude.
The cargoes would be delivered in the second half of April, according to traders familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
Venezuela’s Merey crude has long been among the world’s cheapest, and Asia, particularly China, has been a vital consumer. Prior to the US intervention in the nation and the seizure of President Nicolas Maduro, the barrels were priced with discounts as wide as $15 a barrel to Brent on a delivered basis.
In recent years, Vitol has operated under licenses from the US Treasury to load Venezuelan crude. Any proceeds from oil sales are set to be deposited into US-controlled bank accounts for the benefit of both countries, according to the White House.
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