New Delhi [India], August 18 (ANI): Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said Tuesday that India continues to engage with Venezuela to strengthen its national energy security.
Addressing reports that state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had secured a US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) license to resume full operations in Venezuela, Jaiswal underscored New Delhi’s broader focus on energy diversification.
“On the question of ONGC, I don’t know exactly what the position is. But on sourcing oil from Venezuela, I told you that we are engaging with Venezuela to strengthen our energy security,” Jaiswal said during a press briefing.
The spokesperson’s remarks reaffirm India’s pragmatic approach to securing reliable crude oil supplies and expanding trade ties with energy-producing nations to meet domestic demand.
His remarks come as state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is set to step up its activities in Venezuela after receiving a license from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), removing sanctions-related restrictions that had limited the company’s operations in the country.
The approval could allow ONGC to invest more in its Venezuelan assets, increase oil production, pursue new agreements and potentially take over the operation of some projects currently managed by Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA.
Anupam Agarwal, director of finance at ONGC, said the company now has greater flexibility to work on its Venezuelan investments.
“Now we have full freedom to work on the Venezuela project because earlier we were restricting our operations there because of the sanction-related risks. Those risks are behind us,” Agarwal said during an investor call following the company’s first-quarter earnings announcement.
The new license is also important from a financial perspective. It will allow ONGC to manage the finances linked to its Venezuelan projects and could help the company recover a pending dividend of more than $500 million.
ONGC has been discussing its Venezuelan investments with the country’s authorities and its joint-venture partners.
For several years, US sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector had made it difficult for ONGC to conduct financial transactions, invest and expand operations in the country’s energy sector.
The restrictions had forced the company to keep its activities limited despite its existing presence there.
Venezuela’s large oil reserves make the country strategically important for ONGC. According to information shared by the company, Venezuela has around 303 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, the largest in the world. (ANI)
About The Author
