United Nations, Sep 27 (IANS) India and Venezuela are accelerating their energy partnership, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said after talks at the United Nations.
EAM Jaishankar met Venezuelan Foreign Minister Félix Plasencia González at UN headquarters in New York on Saturday on the margins of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly.
“A good meeting with FM Félix Plasencia González of Venezuela at UN HQ,” Jaishankar said in a social media post.
“Our energy ties are gaining momentum, besides other areas of bilateral cooperation. We also discussed current regional issues,” he said.
Neither side announced a supply contract, investment figure or timetable after the meeting. Jaishankar also did not identify the regional issues discussed.
The talks came as India looks beyond traditional West Asian suppliers following months of disruption linked to the conflict involving Iran and restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told IANS in an exclusive interview in June that Washington saw a role for itself in helping India broaden its energy options.
“Well, I think, obviously, India’s been focused for a very long time on diversifying its sources of energy, and I think that trend will continue,” Rubio said. “We certainly would love to be a part of that. We think we have some solutions in that regard.”
Rubio said the longer-term answer for India was a wider group of suppliers rather than dependence on any single region. He specifically identified Venezuela as a potential source of crude for Indian refineries.
“I know India has been talking not just to the United States, but about Venezuela,” Rubio said. “We’re working very closely to increase their production capacity. I think they could serve India.”
Rubio said India’s refining system was particularly suited to Venezuela’s heavier grades of crude oil.
“India is one of the few countries in the world with the ability to refine the heavy crude that Venezuela produces,” he said. “So I think that’s something we would look to facilitate as well.”
The comments indicated that greater India-Venezuela oil trade could advance with US support as Washington seeks investment to revive Venezuelan production.
A separate development this month pointed to renewed investment in Venezuela’s energy sector. At the G20 Energy Abundance Ministerial in Houston, US producer Continental Resources signed a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela’s state-owned PDVSA.
The companies agreed to develop and operate the 126,000-acre Ayacucho 2 Block in the Orinoco Belt. Continental estimates that the block contains about 30 billion barrels of oil, according to a White House statement. The document did not identify an Indian participant in the project.
EAM Jaishankar’s meeting places India’s energy requirements within a broader revival of bilateral engagement. India and Venezuela have also discussed investment, trade and cooperation in other areas, while Caracas has described New Delhi as an important economic partner.
Venezuela held about 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves in 2023, the largest total in the world, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Much of the resource consists of heavy and extra-heavy crude in the Orinoco Belt. Producing and transporting it requires substantial investment and specialised technology.
India and Venezuela have a long-standing hydrocarbons relationship, with Indian public-sector companies investing in Venezuelan oil projects.
Trade later fell as US sanctions restricted transactions involving PDVSA. India’s ability to process heavier crude gives the two countries a commercial fit, but any substantial increase in supplies would depend on production, shipping, financing and the applicable sanctions framework.
--IANS
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