The recent announcement that neighbouring Venezuela and Iran have struck what reports say is an ‘oil swap deal’ under which Iran will receive Venezuela’s heavy crude from the world’s single largest known oil reserves in exchange for condensate from the Islamic Republic, would appear to be the most recent example of the ongoing efforts of the administration of President Nicholas Maduro to seek to extricate his country from the protracted and socially and economically crippling United States embargo that continues to stifle the country’s oil exports.
The swaps which will reportedly take place under an agreement that will last for six months, with the likelihood of extensions, were due to begin late last month. Iranian condensate will be blended with Venezuela’s heavy crude in order to render it more globally marketable, thereby making it more exportable and, theoretically increasing the level of its demand on the global market, particularly on the Asian market where the majority of Venezuela’s oil is sold these days.