Two of the world’s largest oil trading houses are filling a gap that Iran’s war with the US has blown wide open. Trafigura and Vitol, armed with fresh US government licenses, are funneling Venezuelan crude toward Asian refiners desperate for alternative supply.
How Venezuelan oil went from pariah to priority
Both Trafigura and Vitol secured licenses from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in January 2026, shortly after the ousting of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Those licenses gave the traders legal clearance to market Venezuelan crude for the first time in years.
They wasted no time. Initial sales under the new licenses totaled roughly $500 million, covering around 11 million barrels of crude.
The flagship product here is Merey, Venezuela’s benchmark heavy sour crude grade. For March 2026 deliveries, Trafigura and Vitol offered Merey to Indian state refiners and PetroChina at discounts of $5 to $8.50 per barrel below Brent. That’s a narrower discount than what Venezuelan crude historically fetched, reflecting both tighter global supply and renewed confidence in the country as a reliable exporter.
