Venezuela has sent its first shipment of crude oil to Israel in years, Bloomberg News reported, following the capture of President Nicolás Maduro and his transfer to U.S. custody.
Sources familiar with the deal said the shipment was delivered to Israel’s Bazan Group, though the information has not been officially disclosed.
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An oil tanker anchored off the coast of Puerto Cabello, Venezuela
(Photo: Matias Delacroix/AP)
Earlier this year, U.S. forces captured Maduro, and the Trump administration announced that it would take control of Venezuela’s oil sales. The report also noted that Israel does not publicly disclose the sources of its crude oil imports.
Once the shipment arrives, it will mark the first delivery of Venezuelan crude to Israel since mid-2020, when Israel received about 470,000 barrels. Bazan declined to comment, and Israel’s Energy Ministry also refused to say where the country sources its crude oil.
The deal is the latest sign that Maduro’s removal from power is reshaping Venezuela’s oil export flows. Until then, most of the country’s output had been sold to China. In the past month, shipments have been sold to buyers in India, Spain, the United States—and now Israel.