Venezuela long-standing energy partner, India open to crude sourcing: MEA

India said Venezuela has been a long-standing energy partner and New Delhi remains open to exploring crude supply options based on commercial merit, even as energy security stays the top priority

India on Thursday said Venezuela has been its long-standing energy partner, and New Delhi has purchased oil from Venezuela in 2019-20 and again in 2023-24.

 

“Consistent with our approach to energy security, India remains open to exploring the commercial merits of any crude supply options, including from Venezuela,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing in the afternoon. US President Donald Trump had said on Monday night that India has agreed to buy more oil from Venezuela instead of Russia.

 

In his remarks to questions on the issue, Jaiswal said Venezuela has been India’s ‘long-standing’ partner ‘in the area of energy, both on the trade side and as also on the investment side’. MEA officials said Venezuela was among India’s major sources of crude oil until FY20, which were discontinued following sanctions. Imports from Venezuela resumed in FY24, before being halted again due to the re-imposition of sanctions.

 

 

“Consistent with India’s approach to energy security, India remains open to exploring the commercial merits of any new crude supply options, including from Venezuela,” Jaiswal said. He added that Indian public-sector undertakings (PSUs) have established partnership with the National Oil Company of Venezuela, PDVSA, and Indian PSUs have maintained presence in that country since 2008.

 

To questions on Washington’s claim that India has agreed to stop buying Russian oil, Jaiswal said, “So far as India’s energy sourcing is concerned, the government has stated publicly on several occasions that ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion Indians is the supreme priority of the 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,” he said. “All of India’s actions are taken and will be taken with this in mind,” he said.

 

The MEA spokesperson rejected reports that have claimed that National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had a secret meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio sometime late last year in connection with the India-US trade deal. “I would like to say that there is absolutely no basis for that report. No such meeting or no such visit has taken place,” Jaiswal said.

 

In Houston, the Consulate General of India (CGI) convened a high-level US-India Energy Roundtable on the Global Energy Outlook 2026 at its office on February 4. It was held in partnership with the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF).

 

The closed-door meeting brought together over 30 senior executives from global energy, engineering, and technology firms, including ExxonMobil, Chevron, Honeywell, GAIL, Larsen & Toubro, Weatherford, LanzaTech, S&P Global, McKinsey, and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

 

India’s Consul General D C Manjunath said India’s ambition to maintain high economic growth is closely linked to long-term energy security. He underlined the importance of dialogue and cooperation with the US industry to ensure reliable and affordable energy supplies, while advancing cleaner technologies and innovation.

 

According to the USISPF, discussions focused on global supply-demand trends, infrastructure investment, and policy frameworks that could enable deeper commercial engagement between US energy companies and Indian public and private sector players. A presentation on the Global Energy Outlook by Prasanna V Joshi, corporate director for economics and energy at ExxonMobil, outlined projections showing sustained growth in India’s energy demand over the coming decades, driven by industrial expansion, urbanisation, and rising electricity consumption.

 

Participants noted that India’s near-term priorities included scaling LNG and natural gas infrastructure, expanding power generation capacity, and deploying digital and advanced technologies across the energy value chain to meet growing demand from industry and data centres.

 

With inputs from PTI