CARACAS, (Reuters) – Iranian oil minister Javad Oji on Wednesday departed for Caracas to hold talks with his Venezuelan counterpart, oil minister Pedro Tellechea, Iran’s official news agency IRNA said.
The ministers plans to discuss joint refining, engineering and petrochemical projects, including the overhaul of Venezuela’s refineries. A group of Iranian state companies last year finished the revamp of the South American country’s smallest refinery, and they are expected to continue with a larger facility.
Iran and Venezuela until last year exchanged heavy crude for condensate in a key swap deal that allowed them both to skirt U.S. sanctions.
The volume of the Iran-Venezuela oil exchanges has jumped to between $3.5 billion and $4 billion since August 2021 when the pact started, according to IRNA.
