India is pursuing expanded energy ties with Venezuela, including crude procurement and upstream investments, following high-level talks in New Delhi, reported Bloomberg.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez during her 3–7 June visit to India.
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The engagement comes as India scrambles to secure alternative crude sources after conflict in Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 40% of India’s oil imports had previously transited.
Rudrendra Tandon, Secretary (East) at the Ministry of External Affairs, told reporters at a Bloomberg-cited briefing event: “The government is aggressively seeking new sources of crude oil and energy to ensure India’s energy security. So, Venezuela is an opportunity and it is very much part of our plan. In the energy sector, we see perfect complementarity. In our spot purchases, Venezuela has already emerged as the third-largest supplier this month.”
Tandon noted that any investments, including in the energy space, would be subject to separate commercial negotiations between the respective companies.
Venezuela has grown into a significant supplier for India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, which imports around 90% of the crude it uses.
Shipments resumed in April after a year-long gap, aided by a partial easing of US sanctions on the OPEC producer.
Indian Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri, who met Rodríguez alongside the chairpersons of state-owned oil companies, noted that technical teams from Indian oil firms are expected to travel to Venezuela to explore further collaboration.
“Venezuela possesses biggest proven reserves of oil in the world, while India not only possesses huge demand for energy but also has the technological expertise and manpower to refine Venezuelan crude in our refineries,” he said in a statement posted on X.
The two sides also discussed potential Indian participation in Venezuela’s pharmaceuticals, mining, and critical minerals sectors, though no formal agreements were concluded.
