Venezuela Oil Crisis: The South American country Venezuela is currently going through a deep crisis. The impact of the American attack on this country with the world’s largest oil reserves will not be limited to Washington only, but its impact can be felt globally in the coming days. Talking about India, at present no direct benefit is visible, but in the long run this development can also create opportunities for India.

If Venezuela re-enters the global oil market and investment avenues open there, then Indian refiners and oil companies can get huge benefits. The effect of this expectation was seen in the stock market on Monday, when the shares of Reliance Industries rose by about one percent and reached its 52-week high of Rs 1,611.80. With this, the market cap of the company increased to about Rs 22 lakh crore.

How will the oil game change?

Strength was also seen in other companies of the oil and gas sector. Hindustan Petroleum rose by 1.85 percent to reach Rs 508.45 intra-day. ONGC was seen trading at Rs 168.79 with a rise of 1.16 per cent at Rs 246.80, Indian Oil Corporation at Rs 168.79 with a rise of 1.03 per cent and Oil India at Rs 432.45 with a rise of 0.47 per cent.

Experts’ opinion is divided regarding this entire incident. V.K., chief investment strategist at Geojit Investments. Vijayakumar says that the US attack on Venezuela in the beginning of 2026 has indicated major geopolitical changes. This may make global geopolitics more unstable. Protests may intensify in Iran, there is a possibility of the Russia-Ukraine war getting longer, while China may also take advantage of these circumstances and take aggressive steps against Taiwan. However, he believes that in the long run, India may get relief from oil prices due to Venezuela crisis.

What will be the major impacts?

According to senior journalist Ruman Hashmi, the way US President Donald Trump is putting pressure on India regarding oil imports from Russia and is now trying to strengthen his grip on power in Venezuela by directly intervening there, it is certain to have a far-reaching impact on the global oil business. He said that Trump is also warning Colombia and Brazil and is talking about imposing additional tariffs on India. Just as after the change of power in Iraq, the government there came under the influence of America, a similar scenario can be seen in Venezuela also.

Hashmi also clarified that importing oil from Russia is not a political but economic decision of India. India plays an important role in the global oil market and it is wrong to link it with funding the Ukraine war.

Overall, after the US attack on Venezuela, there are signs of major turmoil in the global oil market. The impact of these incidents can be clearly visible in the coming days on oil prices, geopolitical equations and the strategy of Indian energy companies.

What is the impact on India?

From India’s perspective, the foundation of its relations with Venezuela has largely been based on oil imports. Due to US sanctions, there was a sharp decline in crude oil trade between the two countries in 2021 and 2022, but with the changing circumstances, this trade seemed to be picking up pace again in 2023-24. During this period, India’s petroleum import from Venezuela increased to about 1 billion dollars.

According to a report by The Financial Express, India had also become the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude oil for some time in December 2023. However, in the current situation, China remains the largest importer of Venezuelan crude oil. These figures clearly show that despite global sanctions and geopolitical tensions, energy cooperation between India and Venezuela is beginning to strengthen again, which can play an important role in India’s energy security in the future.

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Us President Donald Trump on Venezuela: US President Donald Trump announced on Monday (March 24) that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela would have to pay 25 percent tariffs on trade with the US. This decision has been taken due to increasing political and economic stress between the US and Venezuela.

Trump wrote on his Truth social platform that Venezuela has great enmity with the US and our supported freeds, therefore, any country that buys oil and or gas from Venezuela will have to pay 25 % tariff on business with America.

Why did America take this step?
The Trump administration has already imposed several restrictions on Venezuela. He has not recognized the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Trump alleged that Venezuela has sent criminals to the US, including the Tren De Aragua gang. The US government has termed it as a foreign terrorist organization. Due to all this, Trump also wants to make Venezuela financially weak.

Does India buy oil from Venezuela?
India is the third largest oil consumer in the world and he imports crude oil from Venezuela.
India’s oil import data from Venezuela (2023-24):
December 2023: India bought 191,600 barrels per day (BPD) oil.
Reliance Industries: 127,000 BPD
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC): 37,000 BPD
HPCL-Mittal Energy: 28,000 BPD
January 2024: India’s imports increased to 254,000 BPD, which was 50 per cent of the total oil exports of Venezuela.
If India continues to buy oil from Venezuela, it may have to pay an additional fee of 25 percent on the trade done with the US.

Trump’s tariff’s global effect
India gets cheaper oil from Venezuela. If the tariff is applied, India may have to buy oil from Saudi Arabia, Iraq or Russia. This can increase the prices of petrol and diesel. This decision of America can increase oil prices. Countries like China and Turkas can also be affected. Venezuela will have to search for new oil buyers.

Venezuela-America relationship will deteriorate
Venezuela has already been imposed US sanctions. The new tariff will spoil the relationship between the two countries. Tram said that this tariff will be implemented on 2 April 2025. On the matter, Trump said that our homeland security, border patrol and other agencies have been informed about this decision.