Venezuela used to export oil to India before the sanctions. On January 31, acting President Delcy Rodriguez spoke directly by phone with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain the new situation. Days later, the Indian refinery Reliance Industries purchased 2 million barrels through Vitol. Since then, shipments to India have multiplied.
In March alone, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Petroleum, and Indian Oil Corp. collectively purchased 343,000 barrels per day. In April, India acquired more than 12 million barrels, according to some sources—the largest volume since 2020. By May, Venezuela had become India’s third-largest crude oil supplier. Only Russia and the United Arab Emirates supplied more crude oil to India during that period.
But no matter how much the plundering increases, Venezuela will never be able to replace Russia, which supplies India with between 1.3 and 2 million bpd, far more than Venezuela can ship India.
