(ET)
Reliance Industries Ltd, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, said on Wednesday it had halted supply of diluents to Venezuela’s national oil company PDVSA and will not resume such sales until sanctions are lifted. Washington is preparing to impose “very significant” Venezuela-related sanctions against financial institutions in the coming days, U.S. special envoy Elliott Abrams .
PDVSA was importing about 100,000 bpd of naphtha, mostly from the United states, to dilute up to 400,000 bpd of extra heavy oil and make it exportable. Reliance’s Houston-based subsidiary was supplying diluents to Venezuela. Reliance, an Indian conglomerate controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, has significant exposure to the financial system of the United States, where it operates some subsidiaries that are linked to its oil and telecom businesses among others.
