Indian energy companies are interested in expanding into Venezuelan oil, New Delhi’s top energy official Hardeep Singh Puri said today at a meeting with Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodriguez in India, as quoted by Reuters.
The report follows earlier media coverage of the meeting, citing Indian officials as saying that Venezuela’s government sees the country as a preferred partner in energy matters.
“We are working with a government that is friendly, that wants a partnership with India,” an Indian foreign ministry official told media, as quoted by Reuters. “We want to reciprocate that. Venezuela has traditionally been a close friend. We have collaborated very closely at the international level, so we are just going back to normal.”
India is the second-largest buyer of Venezuelan crude after the United States, Reuters noted in its Thursday report. Import rates stood at 427,000 barrels daily last month, after the United States eased sanctions on the commodity in February. Venezuela, in turn, has become India’s fourth-largest oil supplier. The May import figure represents an almost twofold increase on April, when India imported an estimated 283,000 barrels daily in April.
Venezuela exported an estimated 1.25 million barrels per day of oil in May, up by 0.7% compared to April’s 1.23 million bpd exports and a massive 61% jump compared to May 2025, according to ship-tracking and vessel-loading data. Exports are seen rising to 1.5 million barrels daily by next year, according to Kpler.
India has been buying more crude from Russia, Brazil, and Venezuela to replace lost Middle Eastern barrels amid the continuing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The world’s third-largest oil importer has also stepped up buying from Africa’s export majors, Nigeria and Angola, to meet demand. The country depends on foreign oil to meet as much as 85% of its domestic demand.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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