The Minister of State (I/C) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan held a bilateral meeting with Mrs Delcy Rodriguez, Minister of External Affairs, and Mr Eulogio del Pino, Minister of Petroleum of Venezuela. Mrs Rodriguez is currently on a visit to India from 17-19 August 2016 along with a delegation, including senior officials from the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining.
During the meeting, both sides discussed aspects of bilateral hydrocarbon engagements. These included, inter-alia, sourcing of crude and mechanism to register Indian Oil and Gas PSUs for sourcing of crude, status of the two upstream projects in which Indian Oil and Gas PSU companies have stakes, payment of outstanding dues to ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) by Venezuelan National Oil Company, participation of Indian Oil and Gas companies in additional E&P activities in Venezuela on G-to-G basis, setting up of an Oil for Export mechanism for payment of pending dues, and training of Venezuelan petroleum industry personnel in India. Both sides agreed to continue their cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector and work towards further strengthening the relation in the areas of mutual interests.
Venezuela is India’s 4th largest source of crude oil. In 2015-16, India imported 23.6 MMT of crude from Venezuela which is about 12% of India’s crude imports. OVL, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd and Oil India Ltd have stakes in two of Venezuelan oil blocks.