US Pitches Venezuelan Oil to India as Russian Imports Fall — Here’s Why

The United States has pitched India to purchase Venezuelan oil to sharply reduce its dependence on imports of Russian oil, reported Reuters.

This comes after a year of punitive tariffs imposed by US on India in August 2025 for buying Venezuelan oil. The move indicates a significant shift in US policy that aims to counter Russian oil revenues that help fund the war in Ukraine and in extension, reshape global energy trade.

Additional Tariff imposed in 2025

In August 2025, the US had imposed an additional 25% tariff over purchases of Russian oil which came into effect on August 27, bringing the total tariffs on Indian goods to 50%. Indian refiners eventually increased imports from other sources due to difficulties caused by Western sanctions.

“Products of India, except those set forth in section 3 of Executive Order 14329, that are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, on or after 12:01 a.m. eastern daylight time on August 27, 2025, will be subject to the additional ad valorem rate of duty,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) order issued on August 25 read.

However, Indian products were said to be exempted from the 50% tariff if they were “already loaded on a ship and in transit to the U.S. before 12:01 am (EDT) on August 27, 2025, provided they were cleared for use in the country or taken out of a warehouse for consumption before 12:01 am (EDT) on September 17, 2025, and the importer certifies this to U.S. Customs by declaring the special code HTSUS 9903.01.85”.

In August 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that he can’t compromise on the interests of farmers, cattle-rearers, small-scale industries, cautioning “pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it”.

Earlier, in March 2025, President Donald Trump had imposed 25% tariffs on countries buying Venezuelan oil including India in March 2025, and his administration ramped up a campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom US forces captured on January 3, 2026.

Citing data from trade sources, Reuters reported that India's Russian oil imports fell to their lowest level in two years in December, lifting ‍OPEC's share of Indian imports to an 11-month high.

Indian refiners have been buying more oil from Middle Eastern, African and South American countries to make up for a drop in Russian oil imports.

State-run Hindustan Petroleum, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals and ‍private ‌refiners HPCL-Mittal Energy ​Ltd have already stopped buying Russian oil.

Private refiner Reliance Industries, operator of the world's largest ‍refining complex, will buy up to 150,000 bpd Russian oil from February, a company source said this week.

Other state refiners Indian ‍Oil ‍Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp ‌have slowed purchases of Russian oil, officials at the India Energy Week conference this week said.

Why It Matters

The US push shows its attempt to cut Russia’s oil revenue amid the Ukraine war and ease tariff tensions with India, while India diversifies its crude sources as its Russian oil imports are shrinking due to political pressure.

India is preparing to cut Russian oil imports to below one million barrels per day soon. In January, they were around 1.2 million bpd, and are projected to decline to about 1mn bpd in February and 800,000 bpd in March, one of those two sources told Reuters.