Authored by: La Tabla/Data Journalism Platform 15 FEB 2026
A shipment of one million barrels of heavy and extra-heavy Venezuelan crude oil, loaded from the Jose terminal (Anzoátegui state) around February 11th, is heading for the Strait of Gibraltar as confirmed by MarineTraffic maritime tracking data.
The tanker POLIEGOS (IMO 9746621), chartered by global trader Vitol, is sailing on a course of 83° at a speed of 12.6 knots, with a draft of 17.2 meters confirming its full load. Its declared destination is Saras refinery in Sarroch, Italy, where 200,000 barrels — 20% of the total shipment — will be dispatched to Bazan Group refinery in Haifa, Israel. This crude will be transformed into bitumen and asphalt for road infrastructure projects.
What makes this operation remarkable is not just the logistics but also the chemistry: Orinoco Belt crude is globally considered a premium raw material for asphalt production, which is exactly what Israel needs for paving new security roads in the West Bank and future streets in a rebuilding Gaza Strip.
A shipment in motion: the route of POLIEGOS
Currently, the POLIEGOS tanker is navigating the waters near the Strait of Gibraltar, the strategic passage connecting the Atlantic with the Mediterranean. MarineTraffic data confirms that it departed from the Jose terminal (VE JOT), the primary port for Venezuelan heavy crude exports located in Anzoátegui state, with a declared destination to Sarroch, Italy (IT PFX), which operates the Saras refinery, one of the largest and most complex in the Mediterranean.
The Saras refinery in Sarroch has a processing capacity of 300,000 barrels per day and a Nelson complexity index of 11.7, one of the highest in Europe. This facility is specifically designed to process heavy and extra-heavy crudes, which accounted for 40% of its feedstocks in 2023. Here, 800,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude will be unloaded.
The remaining 200,000 barrels will be separated and shipped from Italy to the Bazan Group refinery in Haifa, Israel, which has a capacity of 197,000 barrels per day, covering over 70% of the local demand for refined products.
A question of chemistry: why Venezuelan crude is irreplaceable
To understand why a country over 10,000 kilometers away prefers Orinoco Belt crude, one must look at its molecular composition. Bitumen cannot be obtained from just any crude oil; it comes from the heaviest fraction of crude distillation, rich in asphaltenes and resins —the molecules giving asphalt its adhesive properties, durability, and resilience.
The Orinoco Oil Belt, discovered in 1936, is the world’s largest accumulation of heavy and extra-heavy oil, with initially estimated reserves of 1.36 trillion barrels and certified proven reserves by OPEC of 303 billion barrels, the largest on the planet. The crude from this belt has an API gravity ranging between 8° and 16° (on a scale where lower values indicate higher density), meaning it’s viscous and tar-like, exceptionally rich in the components forming bitumen.
This “asphaltic” crude, as experts describe, yields a high residue output during distillation, exactly what is needed to maximize asphalt production. In contrast, a light crude like West Texas Intermediate (WTI) with 38-40° API primarily yields gasoline and diesel, leaving little residual material for bitumen.
The Venezuelan crude, however, is ideal for refineries like Bazan’s that are configured to convert this residue into high-quality road and waterproofing products.
It’s no coincidence that Israel turns to Venezuelan crude. The Haifa refinery was originally designed to process light crudes from Iraq in 1944, but its high technical complexity (Nelson index of 9) allows it to efficiently handle heavy Venezuelan crudes today.
And it does so because the result is top-quality asphalt, the same used to pave roads in Europe, now needed in Palestinian territories.
Roads in the West Bank: expansion figures
While there’s no public breakdown of how many kilometers of roads will be built or how much asphalt will be needed, there are concrete figures that help frame the project. According to data from the organization Peace Now, cited by the BBC, the Israeli government has approved the construction of 3,401 new housing units in the Maale Adumim settlement in the area known as E1, east of Jerusalem. This plan has been on hold for over 20 years due to international pressure but has now been revived, envisioning a 33% increase in the size of that settlement.
The associated infrastructure project includes the so-called “apartheid road” or “Fabric of Life,” a segregated roadway system that, according to Peace Now, will create separate routes for Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank.
Building these roads, which will connect settlements and facilitate settler mobility, will require significant amounts of asphalt. Although the total projected length has not been published, the Israeli government has allocated a budget of 125 million shekels (about 35 million dollars) for “security road paving” in the occupied territories.
Gaza: a reconstruction of 70 billion dollars
In the Gaza Strip, the scale is even larger. According to a joint assessment by the United Nations, the European Union, and the World Bank, approximately 70 billion dollars will be needed to reconstruct the territory after two years of war.
In just the first three years, 20 billion will be required to initiate large-scale operations.
The destruction in Gaza accounts for 84% of the territory, and in some areas, like Gaza City, it reaches up to 92%. This means millions of tons of rubble need to be removed —81,000 tons have already been cleared, equating to about 3,100 trucks— and every kilometer of street and road needs to be rebuilt from scratch.
Although the urbanization plans, defined as a “high-end real estate complex,” do not appear in the official UN reports, it is undeniable that any reconstruction of this magnitude will require massive amounts of asphalt. Here again, Venezuelan crude plays a critical role.
The commercial chain: Vitol, US licenses, and money in accounts outside US territory
A crucial point that has caused confusion must be clarified: Venezuela is not directly selling oil to Israel. The government of acting president Delcy Rodríguez has labeled as “fake news” any information suggesting a direct commercial relationship between Pdvsa and the Israeli company Bazan Group. And technically, they are right.
The crude traveling on the POLIEGOS was purchased by global trader Vitol, one of the world’s largest oil traders, which received an individual license from the U.S. government to buy Venezuelan crude.
Why does it need a U.S. license? Because since December 2025, the Trump administration imposed a naval blockade on Venezuela that prevents the free marketing of its oil. The U.S. forces effectively control the Venezuelan territorial waters and the shipments leaving the country.
What the Trump administration has done is authorize itself to sell Venezuelan oil as if it were its own, through a licensing system granted to companies like Vitol, Trafigura, and Chevron. The money from these sales, as ordered by Trump himself, is deposited into accounts outside the United States and is given to the Venezuelan government under certain conditions that have been accepted. In January 2026, Venezuelan exports increased to 800,000 barrels per day from 498,000 in December, and it’s expected that traders will resell this crude in Europe and Asia.
Therefore, the shipment of 200,000 barrels to Israel is not a decision made by Venezuela but a resale operation by Vitol, which bought the crude under U.S. license and is now redirecting it to the Israeli market.
It is correct for the Venezuelan government to deny having made a direct sale or granted explicit authorization for that destination. But the crude is indeed Venezuelan and it will end up in Haifa.
Historical context: when Venezuela directly sold to Israel
This current operation, albeit indirect, has a significant historical precedent. During the 90s, Venezuela maintained a smooth and direct commercial relationship with Israel. In that decade, Pdvsa supplied the Haifa refinery with an estimated volume of between 15,000 and 25,000 barrels of heavy crude daily, similar to the Orinoco Belt crude.
By the late 90s, annual sales approached about 5 million barrels a year, covering around 15% to 20% of Israel’s crude import needs. In 1993, for example, a contract was signed to supply 2.5 million barrels over a specific period.
It is important to note that these figures are not stable or definitive —historical records have gaps— but they clearly show a trend: Israel has been a traditional customer of Venezuelan heavy crude due to its suitability for asphalt production.
The difference with the current operation is the middleman and the control. Previously it was a direct sale from Pdvsa to Israel; now it is Vitol, under U.S. license, that decides the final destination.
Why refineries worldwide (and in Israel) need heavy crude
A key fact explaining this movement is that not all refineries are alike, and those that can process heavy crude hold a strategic advantage. In the U.S., for instance, Gulf Coast refineries (like those of Valero Energy and Marathon Petroleum) were equipped decades ago specifically to process Venezuelan crude. This crude, being more viscous and challenging to handle, tends to be cheaper than light oils, presenting a business opportunity for those refineries that have the technology to process it.
The Saras refinery in Sarroch, which will first receive the POLIEGOS, has a similar configuration: its Nelson complexity index of 11.7 and its deep conversion units (catalytic cracking, hydrocraacking, waste gasification) enable it to process heavy and extra-heavy crudes, producing high-value products. The same applies to Bazan’s refinery in Haifa, which, although originally designed for light crudes, has evolved to process a wide range of crude types due to its technical complexity.
Venezuelan heavy crude is not a problem; it’s an opportunity for refineries that know how to capitalize on it. And in terms of bitumen, it’s directly the best choice.
Conclusion: a 10,000-kilometer journey towards Middle Eastern asphalt
As the POLIEGOS crosses the Strait of Gibraltar tonight, it carries not only one million barrels of crude but also a tangled geopolitical story. This oil, extracted from the Orinoco Belt, partially refined in Italy, and then sent to Israel, will become the asphalt paving roads in the West Bank — facilitating the expansion of settlements and settler mobility — and, eventually, the new streets of a rebuilding Gaza Strip.
The figures speak volumes: 70 billion dollars to rebuild Gaza, 3,401 new housing plots in Maale Adumim, 125 million shekels for security roads, and 200,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude on the way. Behind every number is a reality: the heavy oil from Venezuela, due to its unique chemical composition, remains a coveted strategic resource in the most remote places, both physically and politically.
And while the Venezuelan government denies having sent it directly to Israel, the logistical reality is that this crude —owned by Vitol, authorized by the U.S., and paid into accounts outside the country— will reach Haifa and be turned into roads. The roads that, in the Middle East, are also political pathways.
Methodological warning: The figures on kilometers of roads in the West Bank and the exact volume of asphalt needed for Gaza are approximate and based on approved budgets and damage assessments from the United Nations, given the lack of detailed infrastructure plans published officially.
