White House : The says the US is prepared to provide India access to Venezuelan oil
White House : According to a senior administration official, the White House is willing to permit India to purchase Venezuelan oil under a new US-controlled framework, suggesting a possible reopening of supplies to one of Venezuela’s biggest pre-sanctions customers as Washington seeks to market the nation’s crude internationally.
Given India’s significant energy demands, an administration official gave a favorable response when asked whether the US was prepared and willing to let India to buy Venezuelan oil.
The government insider told IANS, “Yes,” but refused to elaborate since the specifics of selling Venezuelan oil are still being worked out.
The source cited remarks made by Energy Secretary Christopher Wright in an interview with Fox Business that suggested the US would be willing to sell Venezuelan oil to “almost all countries.”
“The United States is allowing Venezuelan oil to flow again,” Wright claimed in an interview with Fox Business, “but under a structure where sales are marketed by the US government and proceeds are placed into accounts controlled by Washington.”
Therefore, we’re letting the oil flow. Once again, the US government is marketing it. “The money is going to flow into accounts,” he said, adding that the money will later be returned to Venezuela in a manner that “benefits the Venezuelan people, not corruption, not the regime.”
Wright emphasized the administration’s stance that sales would not be restricted to a small group of nations by stating that there was significant demand in Venezuelan oil from both US refiners and purchasers “in Europe and Asia and all around the world.”
He said that demand was still strong and that several US refineries were built to handle Venezuelan oil in the past.
The Energy Secretary presented the idea as a component of President Donald Trump’s larger initiative to change Venezuela’s oil industry and impose sanctions. Wright characterized US influence over oil flows and income as leverage to stop what he described as criminal activities and disruptive behavior associated with Venezuela’s former government. “You can sell oil together with the United States, or you can not sell oil,” he added.
Wright again underlined how important enforcement was to the strategy. Wright said that recent US actions showed that policies and sanctions will be implemented rather than only declared, citing the seizure of sanctioned oil vessels.
In answer to a query about US military activities against ships transporting Venezuelan oil outside the new framework, he said, “Only legitimate and lawful energy commerce, as determined by the US, will be permitted.”
Wright described how the United States intends to sell between 30 million and 50 million barrels of Venezuelan oil presently in storage, followed by continuous sales of future output, in separate comments given at an energy conference in New York.
“We’re going to get that crude moving again and sell it,” he said, adding that in order to stabilize and subsequently increase output, the US will also provide diluent and allow imports of parts and equipment.
He said that US authorities were actively discussing the requirements for investment with oil corporations that had previously operated in Venezuela as well as those who were interested in doing so. “What are the prerequisites for capital flow?” Wright described it as a continuous process that involves the US government, Venezuelan officials, and energy companies.
Notably, India was a significant customer of Venezuelan crude prior to US sanctions that restricted commerce, using it to power intricate refineries set up for heavy oil. In the face of steady demand growth, the prospect of reopened access may aid in diversifying India’s energy imports.
India is one of the fastest-growing energy users in the world and is mostly dependent on imports to satisfy its oil demands, while Venezuela possesses the greatest known oil reserves in the world.