Spain’s crude oil imports from Venezuela this year have already topped 2023’s total, data released by Cores, an arm of the Energy and Environment Ministry, showed on Wednesday.
In July, Spain imported 353,000 tons of crude from Venezuela, taking the January-July total to 1.7 million tons.
That was almost triple the amount for the same period last year and topped 2023’s total of 1.4 million tons.
OPEC member Venezuela posted a rise in oil exports in the first half of the year, helped by U.S. licences and authorisations to partners of state oil company PDVSA.
Under a deal authorised by the U.S. that exempted it from sanctions, Spain’s largest oil company Repsol agreed to receive oil from PDVSA as payment for debt. It has increased import volumes this year as part of the agreement.
(Reporting by Pietro Lombardi; editing by Jason Neely)