Trump Says Oil Deal With Venezuela, Not Iran, for India

US President Donald Trump declared that India would buy oil from Venezuela rather than Iran on Saturday.

While traveling from Washington, D.C., to Florida on Air Force One, Trump told reporters, “We’ve already made that deal, the concept of the deal.”

According to three people familiar with the situation who spoke to Reuters, Trump’s remarks were made a day after the US informed Delhi that it could soon start buying Venezuelan oil to help replace imports of Russian oil.

As Washington works to cut back on the oil earnings that support Russia’s war in Ukraine, the US is attempting to supply Venezuelan crude to India.

In March of last year, Donald Trump levied 25% tariffs on nations that purchase Venezuelan oil, including India.

On Saturday, Trump added that China was welcome to negotiate a deal with the United States to purchase Venezuelan oil.

The director of the national oil giant PDVSA stated on Saturday that Venezuela plans to increase oil production by at least 18% this year through measures that would fully open the sector to private companies.

The legal changes were submitted by the nation’s acting president, Delcy Rodriguez, last week, and they passed a first reading in the parliament, which is led by her brother, on Thursday.

The measures, which are anticipated to be approved next week, were prepared under pressure from Washington following the US military operation that overthrew President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, according to analysts.

PDVSA chief Hector Obregon stated, “We had a law…that was not up to date with what we needed as an industry.”