New Delhi: The United States is in “active negotiation” over the sale of Venezuelan oil to India to help it diversify sources of crude oil, US Envoy Sergio Gor said on Friday.
The US has made diversification away from Russian crude a condition for cutting tariffs on goods imported from India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer.
“The Department of Energy is speaking to the Ministry of Energy here, and so we’re hoping to have some news of that very soon,” Gor told reporters on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi where India joined the US-led Pax Silica initiative aimed at building a silicon supply chain for high-tech products.
US President Donald Trump agreed to cut tariffs on Indian goods to 18% under an interim trade deal. He also removed a 25% punitive levy after “India agreed to end the purchase of Russian oil”, which the US said was helping fund Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump said India would buy more oil from the US, and, potentially Venezuela.
India has been tight-lipped about making any political commitment to the US on purchasing Russian oil.
Moscow claimed it has no reason to believe that there has been a change in India’s stance on importing Russian oil.
A final US-India trade deal is expected to be signed “sooner than later” as a “few tweaking points” are required, Gor said. He added that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited Trump to India.
The interim trade deal is set to become effective in April and the US is likely to issue a formal notification this month to reduce its tariff on Indian goods to 18%, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, said on Friday.
The US and EU imposed sanctions on Russia’s energy sector following Vladimir Putin’s invasion on Ukraine in February 2022. India then became the top customer of Russian seaborne crude, which it bought at rock-bottom prices, to the consternation of Western nations.
“On the oil, there’s an agreement… We have seen India diversify on their oil. There is a commitment. This is not about India. The United States doesn’t want anyone buying Russian oil,” Gor said.
The US had pitched the sale of Venezuelan oil to India to help replace Russian oil imports.
It granted licenses to trading houses Vitol and Trafigura to market and sell millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil after capturing Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro last month and reaching a supply agreement with interim president Delcy Rodriguez.
State-run Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum as well as private-sector refiners Reliance Industries and HPCL-Mittal Energy have ordered Venezuelan oil, Reuters has reported.
