Trump announces India will purchase oil from Venezuela
U.S. president Donald Trump said on Saturday that India would buy Venezuelan crude oil to help replace some of the Russian oil it buys, the third largest oil importer in the world.
Trump said to reporters on Air Force One, as he flew from Washington to his Florida vacation home, "We have already made that deal. The concept of it."
Three people with knowledge of the issue said that on Friday, the United States told Delhi they could resume purchasing Venezuelan oil soon to replace Russian oil imports.
India stopped purchasing oil from Caracas in last year's after Trump imposed a 25% tax on countries that bought Venezuelan oil.
Trump stated in his remarks on Saturday that?India will buy Venezuelan crude oil instead of Iranian oil. New Delhi, however, stopped importing oil from Iran due to the 'U.S. The sanctions imposed by the United States over Iran's nuclear program have stopped New Delhi from loading oil from Iran in 2019.
Indian refiners began buying U.S. crude oil to compensate for the loss of Iranian oil. They then reduced their U.S. purchases, and became the largest buyers of Russian seaborne petroleum sold at a discounted price after Western nations imposed sanction on Moscow in response to its invasion of Ukraine 2022.
Trump doubled the duty on Indian imports to 50% in August to press New Delhi into stopping its purchase of Russian oil. He also warned earlier this month that it could increase again if New Delhi did not reduce its purchases.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, however, signaled to the Indian government in January that he could remove the 25% additional tariff on Indian goods, given a drastic reduction in Indian oil imports.
The U.S. government lifted sanctions this week on Venezuela's oil sector to allow U.S. companies to more easily sell Venezuelan crude oil.
Trump's remarks on Saturday seemed to reflect the?continued improvements in U.S. India relations, which had been tense for most of the last year.
Trump said that China and the U.S. could also make a deal to purchase Venezuelan oil.
Trump stated that China was welcome and could make a good deal on oil. He did not provide any further details.
(source: Reuters)
