According to a document from the company and data about shipping, on Monday, an Indian refiner Reliance Industries unit commenced loading a cargo of Venezuelan crude oil that was 'directly purchased from state-run energy company PDVSA. Caracas has signed a landmark oil supply agreement with Washington following the capture of President Nicolas Maduro by the U.S. in January. Since then, only a few companies have been able to purchase cargoes from PDVSA.

According to U.S. licensing granted for trade, oil proceeds from any sale?remain under the control of the United States via bank accounts administered by Treasury Department.

According to a document and data from LSEG, on Monday, the Bahamas flagged supertanker Helios chartered by 'Reliance's Unit RIL USA docked at PDVSA Jose terminal, located along Venezuela's east coast, and began loading the cargo of Merey Heavy Crude bound for India's Sikka Port.

Reliance or PDVSA didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

The shipping data revealed that Venezuelan crude exports from India to India resumed late February, after a ten-month hiatus, through sales made by U.S. Oil Company Chevron, and trading houses Vitol?and Trafigura?to?several Indian refining companies. This helped to drain millions of barrels in oil inventories over the past few weeks.

Supertankers headed for India are also helping to load cargoes at Jose, India's main oil terminal, which is accelerating the overall crude exports.

According to data from vessel tracking, Venezuelan oil exports to India rose to about?342,000 barrels a day (bpd), up from 35,000 in February.

(source: Reuters)