Will oil become expensive?
After America attacked Venezuela and captured its president, oil prices worldwide may go up. The price of Brent crude oil (the global benchmark) could touch $65 per barrel if Venezuela’s oil fields get damaged.
Why Venezuela matters to India
India buys a special type of thick, heavy crude oil from Venezuela. Our big refineries like the one in Jamnagar, Gujarat, are specially built to process this heavy oil. If Venezuela stops sending oil completely, Indian refineries will have to buy more expensive oil from Middle Eastern countries.
How much do we buy from them?
In 2024, India bought crude oil worth $1.76 billion (around ₹14,600 crore) from Venezuela. When global oil prices increase, petrol and diesel prices in India usually go up within 15 days.
Good news: Russia is helping
By 2025, nearly half of India’s oil imports now come from Russia at discounted rates. This is like having a backup plan. Because of cheap Russian oil, India is much safer today than 10 years ago if Venezuela’s oil supply stops.
Extra oil stored worldwide
Right now, there’s a huge amount of extra oil stored in ships around the world—1.3 billion barrels. This is like a safety stock. Even if Venezuela stops sending oil tomorrow, prices won’t shoot up immediately because this stored oil can be used.
Petrol pump prices won’t change immediately
Indian oil companies don’t change prices every day. They calculate the average crude oil cost over 15 days, then decide whether to increase petrol-diesel rates. So even if oil becomes expensive today globally, you won’t see higher prices at your local petrol pump immediately.
Future hope
If Venezuela gets political stability and new investment, it could produce more oil in future—up to 2 million barrels daily. More oil supply globally means cheaper prices for countries like India that buy a lot of oil.
Government is watching carefully
Despite having Russian oil and global reserves as protection, Indian oil companies are keeping a close watch. They want to protect India’s energy security, which is worth Rs 1.40 lakh crore, especially when world politics is uncertain.