US President Donald Trump heralded a trade deal with India earlier this week — claiming the other country had agreed to stop buying Russian oil in favour of American and Venezuelan crude. The POTUS said India had also agreed to remove all tariffs on US goods and buy items worth more than $500 billion. The Ministry of External Affairs has not confirmed the Trump claims but insisted on Thursday that “ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is the supreme priority of our government”.
“Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India’s decision were taken and will be taken with this in mind,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated during a briefing.
Is India turning to Venezuelan crude oil?
He also insisted that India remained open to “exploring the commercial merits” of crude supply from other countries including Venezuela. Multiple reports have suggested this week that New Delhi is gearing up for a sharp increase in US oil imports — in line with the Trump claims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also spoke with acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez on Friday and agreed to “further deepen and expand our bilateral partnership in all areas”.
“As far as Venezuela is concerned, it has been a long-standing partner for us in the area of energy, both on the trade side and also on the investment side. We were importing energy and crude oil from Venezuela until 2019-20, after which we had to stop. Again, we began buying oil from Venezuela in 2023-24 but had to stop after sanctions were reimposed… Consistent with our approach to energy security, India remains open to exploring the commercial merits of any crude supply, including from Venezuela,” Jaiswal explained on Thursday.
According to a recent SBI report, India can save almost $3 billion by replacing a portion of its Russian supplies with Venezuelan heavy crude and updating its import strategy. The report indicated that a discount of $10 to $12 per barrel on Venezuelan oil could make the switch commercially viable for domestic importers. Data cited by SBI Research said Venezuelan heavy crude was presently priced around $51 per barrel. But experts remain wary over difficulties in refining oil from the South American nation — flagging its somewhat unique properties, bottom-heavy nature, high viscosity and elevated acid number.
What has Russia said?
Russia has insisted that New Delhi remained free to make oil purchases as required from other countries — highlighting its existing practice of purchasing crude from multiple nations. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also joined Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to assert that the US had no right to dictate where India was buying its oil.
“No reason to believe India has reconsidered its approach to energy cooperation with Russia. The trade in resources is beneficial for both sides and contributes to maintaining stability in the international energy market,” Zakharova said recently.