Venezuela completed its first shipment of crude oil to Israel in almost four years, within the framework of a deep reconfiguration of the country's export scheme after the fall of the narco-Chavista regime. The cargo was destined for Bazan Group, the main Israeli refiner, and was carried out under the new system of control and supervision of international sales assumed by the United States.
The operation, revealed by the Bloomberg agency, marks a turning point in Venezuelan energy trade after the capture of the narco-dictator Nicolás Maduro and the announcement by the U.S. administration that it will directly manage the commercialization of crude from the South American country. According to sources with direct knowledge of the transaction, the agreement was not officially disclosed and was handled confidentially.
The shipment represents the first dispatch of Venezuelan crude to Israel since mid-2020, when imports of approximately 470,000 barrels had been recorded, according to data from the energy monitoring firm Kpler. When consulted about the operation, the Israeli company declined to comment, as did the Israeli Ministry of Energy, which doesn't usually report publicly on the origin of its cargoes.
