New Delhi [India], January 10 : Foreign affairs expert Robinder Sachdev on Saturday said that the US aims to make Venezuela a colony and sell its oil, with American and European companies investing in the sector.
Speaking with ANI, Sachdev noted Indian refineries, like Reliance's Jamnagar, can process Venezuelan crude, making it a viable option for India if prices are right.
"What the US is saying is something very obvious. America will be willing to sell Venezuelan oil to anyone in the market. That's what America is talking. America plans to make Venezuela a colony run by remote control Viceroy Marco Rubio and investments in the oil industry by American oil companies, European oil companies. Many of them are not actually very eager because they see that there's a lot of infrastructure investment to be done and they don't see maybe they will get the returns but Trump is pushing them," he said.
Sachdev said Indian companies could buy Venezuelan oil by leveraging their refining capabilities.
"And at the same time the Venezuelan government obeys what the Trump dictatorship says. Thereafter, Venezuelan oil is available for everyone. For India, yes, I think definitely yes because one of the things is that the Venezuelan oil is heavy crude. Okay, and our refineries are amongst the few in the world, especially Jamnagar Reliance, are among the few in the world which can process that kind of crude oil and the heavy crude brings you gasoline, petrol, then diesel, then nafta, then heating oil. So there are multiple derivatives of that which is there. So definitely yes, I think Indian public sector or private sector will be happy to buy if the price is right," he said.
As per Sachdev, Trump is pushing energy executives to invest in Venezuela's oil sector, promising stability and profits.
"Trump has mandated the Energy Secretary and the Interior Secretary, Doug Berman and here the Energy Secretary to network, to convince with the oil industry executives, to persuade them to invest in Venezuela. That's one strategy which Trump is adopting to get as many oil executives as possible on the table and then to discuss with them to invest," he said.
"Many of them are reluctant, but America will show them a path of stability so that they don't have much risk and that they invest and he will show them how much the profits they will make because bottom line oil industry is driven by shareholder dividends," he added.
Sachdev added that an estimated $60-200 billion is required to revive Venezuela's oil industry.
"They are not driven by democratic or geopolitical dividends. So that is the trade-off. And the amount needed is going to be huge. It's anywhere in the region of USD 60 billion, till about USD 200 billion to revive and, of course, to increase the pumping capacity of crude from Venezuela," he said.
Sachdev highlighted that the US aims to control Venezuela's resources, with Trump meeting oil executives to promote investments.
Trump on Friday (local time) met with top oil and gas executives at the White House to promote major investments in Venezuela's energy sector, and said that "a lot of money is going to be made".
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