

From Caracas, with love: How Venezuela's reopening helps India's energy agenda
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. New Delhi is positioning for an oil windfall from Venezuela, as the South American nation prepares to re-route hundreds of thousands of crude oil barrels currently shipped to China. As American sanctions on Venezuela end, Caracas may dispatch to India and the US 400,000 barrels per day that it now sends to Beijing, three people aware of the matter said.
New Delhi, the world’s third-largest oil buyer, used to purchase 400,000 bpd from Venezuela until the US imposed sanctions in 2020. “China was importing about 400,000 bpd of crude from Venezuela earlier. Part of this may be diverted to India now, and the US would obviously be among the key buyers," one of the three people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.
The development comes at a time when India has reiterated its commitment to maintain diverse sources of crude oil. While Indian public sector refiners primarily handle light crude, Reliance Industries Ltd's Jamnagar refinery and Indian Oil Corp.'s Panipat refinery are complex units capable of refining the coarse crude pumped by Venezuela. Reliance has already booked cargoes from Venezuela, expected in India by April.
The development gains significance since India imports nearly 90% of its oil requirements and sourced oil worth $161 billion last fiscal year. India's petroleum product consumption is projected to increase by 4.65% and reach a record 252.9 million metric tonnes (mmt) in FY26. India is also the world’s fourth-largest refiner with 258.1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) refining capacity, which is expected to reach 309.5 mtpa by 2030.
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