There has been turmoil in the global oil market after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. At a time when the oil supply of Middle East countries was affected, Venezuela has suddenly emerged as India’s third largest crude oil supplier. According to energy tracking data Kepler, Venezuela has overtaken both Saudi Arabia and the US in May 2026. Currently only Russia and UAE have supplied more oil than Venezuela. According to the report, this month the oil supply from Venezuela to India has increased by about 50 percent as compared to April. After capturing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January, the US had relaxed its oil exports there. After that, Venezuelan oil started coming to India again from April. India started buying oil after 9 months. According to Kepler data, so far in May, India has purchased about 4.17 lakh barrels of crude oil per day from Venezuela. In April this figure was 2.83 lakh barrels per day, whereas before that India had not purchased any oil from Venezuela for 9 consecutive months. There are two biggest reasons for this increase. First- Due to the war in the Middle East and the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the supply has been affected. Second- Venezuela’s heavy and high-sulphur crude oil is becoming cheaper. Indian refineries like Reliance are capable of processing it, so they increased purchases. According to Kpler analyst Nikhil Dubey, Indian refiners have been showing interest in Venezuelan oil for a long time, because it is cheap and compatible with India’s refining system. Especially Reliance’s refinery in Gujarat is considered very good for heavy oil. According to him, most of the refineries in India can process Venezuelan oil only in limited quantity, but Reliance has such technology from which it is benefiting the most. Saudi Arabia increased oil prices. India’s total crude oil imports increased to 49 lakh barrels per day in May, which is 8% more than April. But it is still below February’s level of 52 lakh barrels per day. After February, the Iran war and the Hormuz crisis affected oil supplies from West Asia. India got oil from Iran again in April after 7 years, as US sanctions were eased. But Iranian oil has not yet arrived in May. According to reports, supplies from Iran’s ports stopped due to the US naval blockade. Some supplies from Iraq have started again, but that too is much less than in February. So far in May, India has received only about 51 thousand barrels of oil per day from Iraq, whereas in February it was about 9.69 lakh barrels per day. There has also been a huge decline in the supply of Saudi Arabia. In April, India received 6.7 lakh barrels of oil per day from Saudi Arabia, which came down to about 3.4 lakh barrels per day in May. According to Kepler, the reason for this is the increased prices of Saudi oil, which means Venezuelan oil is becoming cheaper for Indian companies. India increased oil purchases from Russia. India has further increased its dependence on Russian oil after the start of the Iran war. The main reason for this is the huge decline in supplies coming from West Asia. In March, crude oil received by India from the Middle East fell by 61% to 11.8 lakh barrels per day as compared to February. During the same period, the supply from Russia almost doubled to about 23 lakh barrels per day. Indian refineries compensated for the reduced supply from Iran and Gulf countries with Russian oil. According to The Independent, the Russian oil which was earlier available to India at a discount, is now being sold at a premium price. This means that Russia has benefited greatly from the situation created after the Iran war and is getting more profits. Venezuelan President will soon visit India. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that Venezuela’s acting President Delsey Rodriguez may visit India next week. It is believed that during this period there will be talks regarding oil supply. With about 303 billion barrels of oil reserves, Venezuela is considered to be the country with the largest oil reserves in the world. This reserve is more than that of Saudi Arabia and America. However, due to years of US sanctions and government mismanagement, oil production there was badly affected. Now both America and Venezuela will try to reach such an agreement with India, so that the boom in oil exports from Venezuela can continue further. America is trying to get Venezuelan oil into the market. Now that West Asia is in the grip of war and a supply crisis has arisen in the oil market, America seems to be trying to bring Venezuelan oil back into the global market. India was already buying more oil from Russia. America has been angry with this. The Trump government says that this is giving Russia money for the Ukraine war. Before the Iran war started, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised in February to reduce Russian oil purchases and buy more oil from America and Venezuela. Now Marco Rubio, who himself is going to visit India from 23 to 26 May, is saying that America wants India to buy as much American and Venezuelan oil as possible. “We want to sell as much energy as we can to India. We also think there’s a big opportunity in Venezuelan oil,” Rubio said. Experts say that the almost simultaneous visit of Marco Rubio and Delsey Rodriguez to India shows that now the politics related to oil and energy is having a direct impact of war and confrontation of big powers of the world. 13 Indian ships are still stranded in Hormuz. Generally, about half of India’s crude oil comes from Gulf countries through the Strait of Hormuz. Large quantities of LNG and petroleum gas also come through this route. But due to the increasing war and maritime conflict around Iran, this important sea route has become almost closed. Indian officials have also expressed concern about maritime security in the Gulf region. At present 13 Indian ships are stranded there. India wants to evacuate them first and only then new ships will be sent to collect fuel. In recent times, several ships belonging to India have been attacked near the Strait of Hormuz and Oman coast. An Indian-flagged cargo ship sank after a fire in the waters off Oman. There is a suspicion that there was a drone or missile attack on him. These conditions have severely affected the global oil supply and now the world is looking for alternative oil sources. Because of this, an opportunity has arisen for countries like Venezuela. —————————– Also read this news… Report – 8000 Pakistani soldiers deployed in Saudi Arabia amid Iran war: JF-17 fighter jets and drone squadron also sent, Saudi government will bear the expenses. Amidst the Iran war, Pakistan has deployed 8 thousand soldiers, fighter jets and air defense systems in Saudi Arabia. According to news agency Reuters, this deployment has been done under the defense agreement between the two countries. The report claims that Pakistan has also sent about 16 JF-17 fighter jets, drone squadrons and Chinese-made HQ-9 air defense systems to Saudi Arabia. Pakistani soldiers are operating them, while Saudi Arabia is bearing the expenses. Read the full news here…
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