US offers Venezuelan oil to India as Russian crude imports fall
India Today
The US told India it can resume Venezuelan crude purchases as New Delhi cuts Russian oil imports under tariff pressure, with volumes set to fall sharply in coming months, sources said.
The United States has told India it can soon resume purchases of Venezuelan crude oil, pitching the supply as a replacement as New Delhi moves to sharply reduce imports of Russian oil, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The outreach comes as India pledged to slash Russian crude purchases after Washington raised tariffs tied to those imports. India is now on track to cut Russian oil intake by several hundred thousand barrels per day in the coming months, the sources said, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the discussions.President Donald Trump imposed 25% tariffs on countries buying Venezuelan oil including India in March 2025, and his administration ramped up a campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom US forces captured on January 3.
Since then, Washington has signalled a shift, telling New Delhi it could resume Venezuelan purchases to help offset declining Russian supplies. The move aligns with US efforts to curb revenues from Russian oil exports that are funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
The sources did not provide detail on whether the Venezuelan oil would be marketed by outside trading houses like Vitol or Trafigura or would be sold directly by Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA.
India became a major buyer of Russian oil after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine triggered Western sanctions and steep discounts. However, President Donald Trump later raised tariffs on Indian goods, lifting them to as much as 50% by August after adding a further 25% levy linked to Russian oil purchases.
“India is diversifying its crude sources as Russian oil imports fall,” Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said last week, without directly addressing Venezuelan supplies.
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