Washington told Delhi on Friday that India may soon start buying oil from Venezuela as an alternative to importing Russian oil. The very next day, on Saturday, US President Donald Trump said that India will buy oil from Venezuela, not Iran. Reuters reports.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One, the president's special plane, on its way from Washington DC to Florida, "We (India-US) have already made a deal - at least we have agreed to the conceptual framework of the deal."
Trump's words made it clear that India's purchase of oil from Venezuela could be a major catalyst in the event of an India-US trade deal.
Donald Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on several countries, including India, in March 2025 due to the purchase of Venezuelan oil. However, after the arrest of Maduro on January 3 of this year, the United States took the initiative to establish direct control over the Caracas government. As part of this, Washington is also planning to control Venezuela's oil sector in the long term.
The US claims that Russia is using oil sales revenue to finance the war in Ukraine. The main goal of the US initiative to sell Venezuelan crude oil to India is to reduce Russia's revenue from oil exports.
However, the sources did not provide clear information on how Venezuelan oil will be marketed in India.
There is still uncertainty about whether the oil will be sold through international trading houses such as Vitol or Trafigura, or directly by Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA.
The White House and the US Treasury Department have declined to comment on the issue. Similarly, India's energy minister and foreign ministry did not respond to emails sent by Reuters seeking information on the matter.
India became one of Russia's largest buyers when the price of Russian crude fell due to Western sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That is why they have become a target of the US. As a punishment for buying Russian oil, the US imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on Indian products. As a result, the US has imposed a 50 percent tariff on all Indian products.
But recently, India's oil imports from Russia have decreased due to various reasons. In this context, India is emphasizing on sourcing crude oil from alternative sources, said the country's Energy Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
