Sources from the trade said that Vitol, Trafigura and refiners in India or China have begun discussions about Venezuelan crude oil sales for cargoes due to arrive in March.

On 'Friday, global commodities traders confirmed that they had reached agreements with the U.S. Government to help market the stranded Venezuelan?oil. This comes days after Caracas' interim government agreed to sell up to 50,000,000 barrels of crude to the U.S.

Their marketing efforts are expected to accelerate the sale and purchase of Venezuelan oil through the U.S. program, allowing OPEC producers to resume their exports that have been halted ever since President Nicolas Maduro was ousted.

Trafigura CEO says that the company will load the first cargo of Venezuelan oil for the U.S. this week.

PETROCHINA INDIAN RIFFINERS

Two sources confirmed that Vitol was approaching Indian refineries to sell oil. One of the sources claimed that a trader had offered a cargo to ICE Brent at a discounted price of $8-$8.50 per barrel on a delivered basis.

Sources told us last week that Indian Oil Corp. and Hindustan Petroleum Corp. would be interested in buying Venezuelan crude oil. Both have not responded to requests for comment.

Reliance Industries has said that it would consider resuming its purchases of Venezuelan crude oil if the sale to non-U.S. customers is permitted by U.S. regulations.

Three sources claim that Vitol, Trafigura, and PetroChina have all approached PetroChina to explore interest. PetroChina was a major purchaser of Venezuelan Merey heavy sour crude oil as well as fuel before the U.S. sanctioned began, they said.

One of them said: "The traders might first target the large state oil traders, rather than teapots", referring to independent Chinese refiners who buy sanctioned cheap oil.

PetroChina didn't immediately respond to our request for comment.

Vitol refused to comment. Trafigura stated that it is providing marketing and logistical services to facilitate the sales of Venezuelan oil but declined to comment.

Second-Half?MARCH Delivery

A second source confirmed that Vitol and Trafigura have cargoes available for delivery during the second half of march.

Shipping data on Kpler revealed that Vitol had loaded the first shipment of naphtha to Venezuela from the U.S. on the Panamax-sized Hellespont Protector on Sunday. The cargo is expected to arrive in the Venezuelan port of Jose by January 28.

Venezuelan heavy crude oil is thinned with naphtha to make it easier to transport and process.

The imminent return of Venezuelan oil has offset fears of a possible supply disruption in Iran that could cap gains on global oil futures. (Reporting from Nidhi verma in New Delhi; Siyi Liu in Singapore, Chen Aizhu in London, and Shariq Khan in New York. Additional reporting by Julia Payne and Shariq Khan in New York. Editing by Jan Harvey.

(source: Reuters)