India May Look to Buy Venezuelan Oil

India is looking to diversify its oil purchases and is possibly looking at Venezuela, as high global prices have pulled down the country's crude imports according to S&P Commodity Insights.

• "It is always good when more supplies come to market. We will buy from wherever we can get cheaper oil”, India’s petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
• Indian crude oil imports fell by 6.9% month on month to 4.3mbpd, data from the country's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell showed.
• "As India's domestic demand recovers and refiners look to cater to the festive season, India's oil imports will also bounce back. Indian refiners are used to Venezuelan oil and they will start looking at it more seriously," said one oil industry official.
• Oil ministry officials said India diversified its sources to import crude from as many as 39 nations and hoped the return of OPEC member Venezuela would add to the country's list of steady suppliers.
• "We are open to sourcing crude from any country including Venezuela at a reasonable price," a senior official of the oil ministry said.
• In Venezuela’s pre-sanctions period during 2017 to 2019, India imported around 300kbpd of Venezuelan crude, S&P Commodity Insights data showed.