Now, will the crude oil coming from Venezuela be cheaper or more expensive than the Russian one?

India has reduced the purchase of oil from Russia in recent times. Now a new consignment of crude oil is coming from Venezuela. According to Reuters report, 2 million barrels of crude oil from Venezuela can come to India in a short time. For this, big crude carriers have been hired. Interestingly, before the ban by America in 2019, India used to be at third place in terms of purchasing crude oil from Venezuela. Now once again India has started buying crude oil from Venezuela. In such a situation, the question arises whether this oil will be cheaper than Russian oil or not?

Recently, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was captured by US Army soldiers. After that Donald Trump has announced that now his rule will continue in this country. Donald Trump had also initiated the India-Venezuela deal and now under this, India is buying oil from Venezuela. Trump has also said many times that on his request India has stopped buying oil from Russia.

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Which oil will be cheaper?

Actually, in the Russia-Ukraine war, America wants Russia to step back now. Russia is not ready for this, so Europe and America are putting pressure on it. In this sequence, America has banned Russian oil companies. The European Union has also banned products prepared by refining Russian crude oil.

CareEdge Ratings estimates, ‘India’s per barrel expenditure will increase by $1.5 to $2 if it moves away from Russian crude oil and sources crude oil from Venezuela, the US and the Middle East. This will reduce the margins of Indian companies. Regarding this, CareEdge Director Hardis Shah says that in the coming times the prices of crude oil may be higher than before.

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Let us tell you that the Global Refining Margin (GRM) was 10 to 12 dollars per barrel in the financial year 2024, which decreased to 4 to 6 dollars per barrel in the financial year 2025 and further decreased to only 2 to 4 dollars per barrel in the first quarter of February 2026. There was a slight increase in the second quarter of FY 2026 and it reached $8 to $10 per barrel and in the third quarter it reached $9 to $13.

What does the SBI report say?

Recently, a report of SBI also came in this regard. This report estimates that if India buys oil from Venezuela, it can save about $300 crore i.e. more than Rs 2700 crore. However, for this it will be necessary that India gets a discount of 10 to 12 dollars per barrel. At present the price of Venezuelan crude oil is $51 per barrel. The problem in this case is that the distance of Venezuela from India is twice more than that of Russia.

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Apart from this, there is also a difference between the quality of Russian crude oil and Venezuelan oil. In such a situation, changes may have to be made in the refinery to process crude oil. Now Venezuelan crude oil may be available for $51 per barrel and Russian oil for $61 to $65. Here India will also have to spend a lot on transportation.