Essar Raises Venezuela Oil Imports at Iran's Expense

Indian private refiner Essar Oil's imports from Iran fell by three-quarters in August from a year ago, as it boosted purchases from Venezuela, according to tanker arrival data obtained from trade sources and ship-tracking services on the Thomson Reuters terminal. Russian oil major Rosneft and its partners, including global trader Trafigura and Russian fund UCP, closed the $12.9 billion deal to acquire a 98.3% stake in Essar Oil last month. Russia's Rosneft, which has stakes in Venezuelan upstream assets and oil purchase contracts with state-owned PDVSA, planned to supply Venezuelan oil to the 400,000-bpd Vadinar refinery in western India, Reuters reported last year. More…