IEW 2025: India can expect more oil coming from Venezuela, says Puri

New Delhi: India can expect more oil coming from Venezuela, said Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri at a press conference on the sidelines of India Energy Week (IEW) 2025 on Tuesday. “Earlier, Venezuelan oil was not available in the market because of international constraints. Now, all the signals point in the directions of those constraints being eased. So, if your question to me is can you expect more oil to come from Venezuela, my answer will be, yes, one can provided these processes are sorted out. Both our public and private companies have had business relationships with Venezuela. But there were some payment issues. However, I am looking at it with great optimism to these issues getting resolved,” said Puri, adding that one can expect more oil coming from Venezuela.

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Puri held a bilateral meeting with Venezuela’s Minister for Petroleum Delcy Rodriquez on the first day of India Energy Week 2025 on the sidelines. This is the second meeting to take place between the two leaders in the last six months. According to Kpler data, India imported 22 million barrels of Venezuelan oil in 2024, which was 1.5 percent of India’s total crude oil purchases during the period. Before the US imposed sanctions on Venezuela, India’s crude oil imports from Venezuela made up 12 percent of its total imports in 2015.

Ethanol will soon compete with petrol, diesel for pricing: Puri

Hailing the ethanol blending programme as a ‘success story’ of India’s energy sector, Puri said that India is “very close” to having ethanol and ethanol-blended fuels compete with conventional fuels in terms of pricing. “It is not possible to do this at 20 percent ethanol-blended fuel, but as we go above 20 percent, this will be possible. And that time is going to come very soon,” said the minister.

Argentina joins India’s list of crude oil suppliers: Puri

Highlighting India’s efforts to diversify its crude oil supply sources to meet its growing energy demand, Puri said that the country was already importing oil from 39 different countries, adding that the list has now expanded to include Argentina. “We are now importing oil from 40 different countries,” said Puri. India’s crude oil imports fluctuates based on pricing advantages and logistical considerations. Major suppliers include the United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq. “It’s a very dynamic situation, but we are open to imports from all sources,” the minister added.

India relies on imports to meet more than 85 percent of its oil requirements. In order to ensure energy security, the government is trying to arrest the decline in domestic crude oil production and diversify the sources of crude oil imports. In addition, it is also making efforts to increase the share of gas in India’s energy mix and introduce biofuels as a fuel choice for consumers. According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, India’s refined crude oil demand is expected to peak later than in other major economies, positioning the country as a key driver of global oil consumption.

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