Puri meets Rodriguez; says Indian power PSUs eyeing new collaboration with Venezuela | Today’s news
New Delhi: Indian oil and gas companies plan to build on their existing investments in Venezuela while exploring new opportunities for cooperation to strengthen the bilateral energy partnership, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said.
Puri, along with heads of Indian oil and gas companies, met Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, on Thursday.
After meeting on social media platform X, Puri said that a technical team from India will soon visit the South American nation to study opportunities in the energy space.
“Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world, while India not only has a huge demand for energy, but also has the technological know-how and human resources to refine Venezuelan oil in our refineries. Venezuela is already among the largest suppliers of oil to India in April and May 2026, which is a reflection of future potential. Our technical team will soon visit Venezuela to further explore this potential,” Puri wrote in the post.
“Indian companies already have existing investments in Venezuela and are now looking forward to building on them, besides seeking new opportunities for fruitful cooperation that will give impetus to our energy security efforts,” he added.
Long-term partnership
In his contribution, Puri said that India has had a long-standing energy partnership with Venezuela since 2008 and shares a unique complementarity with it.
ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and Corporacion Venezolana del Petroleo (CVP) (a subsidiary of PdVSA) have a joint venture called “PetroleraIndovenezolana SA” for the production and exploration of oil in the San Cristóbal field, in which OVL holds a 40% interest while PDVSA holds the remaining 60%. OVL’s investment in the San Cristóbal project is approximately $200 million.
An international consortium comprising OVL, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Oil India Limited (OIL), Repsol of Spain and Petronas of Malaysia was announced in April 2008 as the winner of an international tender to develop a multi-million dollar integrated oil project at Carabobo in the Orinoco Belt of Venezuela.
Due to US sanctions on Venezuela, OVL was unable to repatriate more than $500 million in dividends from Venezuela.
Mint had earlier reported that India is in talks with the US and Venezuela to resolve the stuck dividend issue.
Earlier in the day, Rodríguez met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed establishing a long-term energy partnership and cooperation in the fields of pharmaceuticals and critical minerals.
Rodríguez is on a four-day visit to India with a delegation that includes five ministers. It is her first trip to India since becoming acting president after US troops captured President Nicolas Maduro in January.
