India to Process Venezuelan Crude Oil, IOCL Chairman Makes Significant Statement, What Do Experts Say?

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has been arrested by the United States. He is accused of running a drug cartel. Following the US action, the world's attention is now on the country's crude oil reserves. Find out the stance of Indian companies regarding Venezuelan crude oil.

Venezuela crude oil: Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) Chairman A S Sahni said that Indian refineries are highly capable. If we get Venezuelan crude oil, we can process it. In a conversation with ANI, Sahni said that Indian Oil has processed Venezuelan crude oil before. We can process it again.

Our focus is on clean energy

A S Sahni said that stable global crude oil prices and India's strong economic growth are creating a good environment for both oil producers and consumers. He said that the company will focus on clean energy in the long run. Sahni said that India is growing very fast and everyone is interested in doing business with India.

Energy sector completely dependent on imports

He said that crude oil has been trading in the range of $60-65 per barrel for the past several months. For most of the last six months, it was $60 or less. This is a good zone where economic growth is also happening and crude oil sellers are also happy.

Emphasising India's dependence on imports, he said that India is heavily dependent on imports to meet its energy needs. IOCL imports about 85-87 per cent of its crude oil requirements. The current price is helpful for economic stability.

Full support from the government

On refining margins, Indian Oil Chairman Sahni said, 'Margins are not determined solely by crude oil prices. Refining margin is a very broad term. It is ultimately affected by cracks in the international market. Today, the cracks are working fine. They have become normal.'

Sahni said that the government has given full support to the energy sector. There are no policy-related issues. Whatever support was needed has already been provided. Now it is up to us to improve profitability by increasing efficiency, reducing costs, and optimising the supply chain.

Debate sparked over Venezuelan crude oil

Following US action in Venezuela, a long debate has ensued globally over crude oil trade. India is the world's second-largest oil importer. In such a situation, discussions are also underway here regarding US action and its potential impact. A few days ago, former Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla also expressed his views on this.

India has made significant investments in Venezuela

Harsh Shringla said that India had invested approximately $6 billion in Venezuela. Venezuela's crude oil has been imported by India. Due to US sanctions, the import of Venezuelan oil had stopped. Therefore, Indian oil marketing companies are interested in Venezuela.

We will have to wait until the right situation arises

How will this work? We also need to carefully consider the options for our companies and our interests, but it is clear that Venezuela is an important country from the perspective of a major oil producer. It has the world's largest oil reserves. He said that therefore, India will have to wait until the right situation arises.