Reliance Industries, owner of India’s biggest refinery, has started buying Canadian heavy crude to replace Venezuelan imports on fears that the U.S. could take sanction action against the company. According to a Bloomberg report , Reliance had recently signed a deal for the purchase of 2 million barrels of Canadian heavy a month for the next six months, unnamed sources close to the matter said. India is one of the biggest buyers of Venezuela crude, despite the sanctions. The sales take the form of crude-for-fuel swaps, which are still allowed for humanitarian reasons, although Washington is seeking ways to cut these off, too. In fact, thanks to sales to India, Venezuela’s oil exports actually increased last month, after hitting all-time lows in June and July. The August average, according to data from Reuters, stood at 437,600 bpd, versus an average of 400,000 bpd in the previous two months. It […]