The story so far: Indian refiners have not been particularly enthused with the prospect of Venezuelan oil flowing into the global market following the U.S’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro. Sanjay Khanna, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Petroleum too had indicated that Venezuelan crude contains high metal and nitrogen content. For context, the South American nation’s share in India’s crude oil basket hovered between 10-13% until President Trump imposed sanctions during his first term at the Oval Office. “Venezuelan oil production dropped materially over the past 15 years – to 0.88MMbpd in 2024 from 2.5MMbpd in 2010 – due to sanctions and underinvestment,” the analysis read. Although, essential to note, according to a Reuters report, Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum have placed order for Venezuelan Merey crude, scheduled for delivery in April.

Source: The Hindu February 19, 2026 04:29 UTC