U. S. President Donald Trump stated that India will buy Venezuelan oil to help replace some of the Russian oil it imports. He mentioned this deal while traveling to his vacation home, confirming that the U. S. had informed India it could soon resume oil purchases from Venezuela after they stopped last year due to a 25% tariff imposed on such transactions. Trump noted that India would shift from Iranian crude oil, with India having already ceased loading oil from Iran in 2019 due to U. S. sanctions.
He explained that Indian refiners had turned to U. S. oil when Iranian supplies were cut off, later becoming major buyers of discounted Russian oil after sanctions against Russia in 2022. Trump had previously increased duties on Indian imports to pressure India to limit its Russian oil purchases. However, U. S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated that tariffs might be removed due to a significant decrease in Indian Russian oil imports. Trump also mentioned that China might consider a deal to buy Venezuelan oil.
With information from Reuters