Hardeep Singh Puri Holds Talks with Venezuela’s Acting President; Reaffirms Venezuela’s Importance in India’s Energy Diversification Strategy

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri held high-level talks with Delcy Eloína Rodríguez Gómez, Acting President of the Venezuela, in New Delhi on June 4, 2026. The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and chairpersons of major Indian public sector oil companies. Both sides explored opportunities for building a long-term and mutually beneficial energy partnership.

During the discussions, Shri Puri emphasized that India and Venezuela share a natural partnership based on decades of friendship and cooperation. Reaffirming India’s support for Venezuela’s energy sector revival, he stated that Indian companies are willing to deepen their engagement in the South American nation’s oil and gas industry. Recognizing Venezuela’s growing significance in India’s energy diversification strategy, the Minister conveyed India’s strong interest in expanding bilateral energy trade and cooperation.

The Venezuelan Acting President described India as a reliable and trusted partner and invited Indian companies to participate more actively in Venezuela’s reformed oil and gas sector. She highlighted the strong complementarities between the two countries in the energy domain and extended an invitation for an Indian technical delegation to visit Venezuela to explore new avenues of collaboration.

Venezuela Key to India’s Energy Security Strategy

Venezuela, which possesses the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, has historically been an important supplier of crude oil to India. India’s advanced refining infrastructure is particularly well-suited to process Venezuela’s heavy crude grades, making the partnership strategically valuable. As global geopolitical tensions and supply disruptions continue to impact traditional oil supply routes, India is increasingly engaging with Venezuela as part of its broader energy security and diversification strategy.

Reflecting this growing engagement, Venezuela has emerged as one of India’s largest crude oil suppliers during April and May 2026. India’s average monthly crude oil imports from Venezuela surged from 64.027 thousand metric tonnes (TMT) during FY 2025-26 to 1,047.148 TMT during April–May of FY 2026-27, underlining the significant potential for future growth in bilateral energy trade.

Indian public sector energy companies have maintained a presence in Venezuela’s upstream oil sector since 2008, demonstrating a long-term commitment to the country’s energy industry. India’s cumulative investment in Venezuela’s oil sector stands at approximately USD 1 billion, primarily through the San Cristóbal and Petrocarabobo-1 projects located in the resource-rich Orinoco Belt.

The meeting comes at a time when India is actively pursuing diversified energy sourcing to strengthen energy security and reduce dependence on traditional supply routes. Both countries expressed confidence that enhanced cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector would contribute significantly to their shared economic and energy objectives.