India has approached the United States with a request to allow it to purchase oil from Venezuela and Iran, both of which are under sanctions. According to representatives from New Delhi, this could be one of the conditions for reducing purchases of Russian oil.
This is reported by Finway
Aiming to Diversify Energy Sources
India halted imports of Iranian oil back in 2019 due to sanctions, and in 2025, the country’s largest private oil refining giant, Reliance Industries, stopped purchasing Venezuelan oil due to new restrictions from the US. Despite this, Indian refineries are currently ramping up exports of gasoline and diesel fuel, reaching record volumes in recent years. The expansion of refining capacity allows India to export about 400,000 barrels of gasoline per day, with one-third of the raw materials for refining coming from the Russian Federation. According to analysts at Wood Mackenzie, by 2025, India will increase its crude oil processing volumes to 5.51 million barrels per day, which is 130,000 to 160,000 barrels more than last year.
Dependence on Russian Oil and New Negotiations with the US
According to experts, the Reliance Industries holding, owned by one of Asia’s richest businessmen, Mukesh Ambani, has purchased approximately $33 billion worth of oil from Russia since the onset of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine. This accounts for about 8% of the total oil exports from the Russian Federation during that period. In just seven months of 2025, Reliance imported about half of all the oil it brought in from abroad.
At the same time, India is actively seeking alternatives for energy resource supplies. The country’s Minister of Commerce, Piyush Goyal, emphasized that India intends to increase its imports of oil and gas from the US to strengthen the partnership between the two countries. This step could pave the way for a new trade agreement with Washington.
India stopped purchasing Iranian oil back in 2019, and the country’s largest private oil refiner, Reliance Industries, ceased its purchases of Venezuelan oil this year due to tightened sanctions from the US.