Washington is engaged in negotiations with New Delhi over the purchase of Venezuelan oil, US Ambassador Sergio Gor said Friday, as India seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian energy imports.
The talks follow an American military operation that ousted Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro last month, and come as Indian refiners have been cutting back on Russian crude — the result of trade negotiations that link US tariff rates to such a reduction.
US President Donald Trump has said that the interim trade deal announced this month would lead to India buying more oil from the United States and Venezuela.
Speaking on the sidelines of a global AI summit in Delhi, Gor said that “active negotiations” were underway for the potential sale of Venezuelan oil to India.
“The Department of Energy is speaking to the ministry of energy here, so we are hoping to have some news of that very soon,” Gor said.
Trump had slapped 50-percent tariffs on most Indian products last year over Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian oil, which Washington says helps to fund the war in Ukraine.
Announcing the interim trade deal, the US president said he had scrapped an additional levy after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to stop buying oil from Moscow.
“We have seen India diversify its oil, there is a commitment,” Gor said.
“This is not about India — the United States doesn’t want anyone buying Russian oil.”
The envoy said that the trade deal — which would reduce tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent — could be finalised “very soon”.
“In fact, even this week, we have both teams that are talking to each other and actively getting to a place where both will be able to sign,” he added.
“The reality is there’s tens of thousands of points… we’re not dealing with a small country, this is one of the biggest economies, and so we’re thrilled that the interim deal is done”.
Oil-rich Venezuela had been one of India’s main crude suppliers before Trump increased US sanctions on Caracas.
Since Maduro’s January 3 ouster, Trump has pressured the Venezuelan administration to open its oil fields to private companies.
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