Bharat will “always buy” crude oil from any
nation, including Venezuela as long as it is not under sanctions, said Petroleum
and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri. He commented this soon after US eased its restrictions
put on the Venezuelan oil sector in October, with Bharat having last imported
crude oil from the South American nation in 2020.
“We always buy from Venezuela. It’s when
Venezuela came under sanctions that they were not able to supply,” he said adding,
“We are willing to resume (oil purchases) with any nation that is not under
sanctions.”
In 2019-20, Bharat imported $6.03
billion worth of petroleum oil from Venezuela – down 17 per cent from 2018-19 –
which made up 99.5 per cent of Bharat’s total imports from the country.
The move will come as a relief of sorts
to Bharat, with the country having paid an average price of $84.20 per barrel
for Russian oil in October, remarkably higher than the $60 price cap set by G7
bloc.
With global commodity prices, including
those of oil, rising post Russia and Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Bharat has
taken advantage of cheaper Russian oil – offered at a discount due to sanctions
imposed by developed countries on the warring nation – and sharply increased
its imports from the country.
Hardeep Puri argued that many Indian
refineries can utilise heavy Venezuelan oil. As such, they would make such
purchases.
“We are in a situation where we are
utilising 5 million barrels of crude oil in a day. And our growth is going up.
So if Venezuelan oil comes on the market, we welcome it,” shared the minister.
NE Watch Desk
