After more than a decade of delays, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) may soon be able to access $500 million in dividends stuck in Venezuela due to US sanctions, with the state-run company initiating talks with authorities in the Latin American country. The two sides are currently discussing whether dividends should be paid in cash or crude oil, two people familiar with the matter said.
The development follows the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granting a general licence in July for the OVL partnerships in Venezuela. OVL is in talks with state-run Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and the new Venezuelan government on the mode of payment, the people cited above said on the condition of anonymity.
“Talks are underway for the dividend due to OVL, and it is also being negotiated whether it would be paid in cash or in terms of oil supplies. This should be resolved by the time the framework is prepared,” one of the two officials cited above said.
OVL holds 40% stake in Venezuela’s San Cristobal oil project and 11% in the Carabobo project, both in partnership with PDVSA. OVL has been pursuing the OFAC licence for quite some time, and its approval means Venezuela is free to conduct certain transactions restricted for sanctioned countries. A successful dividend repatriation will be a major relief for the company whose efforts to repatriate dividends have so far failed.
In a BSE filing on 18 August, ONGC said: “The required go-ahead was received from US Govt. in July, 2026. Framework agreements for further course of action in both the assets are under discussion with relevant stakeholders.” Addressing reporters on Monday after ONGC’s annual general meeting, Rajarshi Gupta, managing director of OVL said the framework for further operations may be complete within the next three months.
To be sure, this is not the first time OVL’s hopes have been raised. The company was set to get the dividends during the six-month US sanctions waiver on Venezuela starting October 2023. However, it failed to receive the cargo during this period, and when sanctions returned, the plan ground to a halt.
Venezuela, which has the world’s largest oil reserve, has been under US sanctions since 2015. On 3 January 2026, the US President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from Caracas and flew them to the US. US President Donald Trump later signed an executive order declaring a national emergency to safeguard Venezuelan oil revenues held in US Treasury accounts from attachment or judicial process. Sanctions on Venezuela were lifted shortly afterwards, reopening oil flows. In August, Venezuela was India’s fourth-largest supplier of crude at 383,000 barrels per day.
As earlier reported by Mint, government-to-government level talks were underway earlier this year over the stuck dividends, and a PDVSA team had visited India in January.
Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez met Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri in June. Indian oil and gas companies have expressed their interest to build upon their existing investments in Venezuela, and are seeking new collaboration opportunities to enhance bilateral energy partnership. Puri had said that a technical team from India would soon visit the South American nation to study opportunities in the energy space.
“At a time when the US plans to further tighten Russian supplies and Iranian oil is already sanctioned, Venezuelan oil is key for India. Already from April, supplies from Venezuela have increased. And with American backing now, global investments in the exploration and production space, there may also see a boost,” said Sankalp Gurjar, assistant professor (geopolitics and geoeconomics), Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics.
On growing imports from Venezuela and the US, Sumit Ritolia, senior manager, modelling, at commodity tracking firm Kpler said: “If U.S. and Venezuelan crude are combined, the Americas are becoming more important to India’s crude basket, but the recent increase is predominantly being driven by Venezuela rather than by a major ramp-up in U.S. crude.”
Crude supplies and global prices are key for the Indian economy as India is the world’s third-largest oil consumer importing nearly 90% of its crude requirement, accounting for about a quarter of the import bill.
At 5 pm on Tuesday, the November contract of the benchmark Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange was trading at $92.10 per barrel, higher by 1.78% from its previous close.
Queries mailed to ONGC, OVL, PDVSA, ministry of petroleum and natural gas and ministry of external affairs and the Venezuelan embassy in Delhi remained unanswered till press time.
On Monday, the White House said that have granted US-backed North American Blue Energy Partners, or NABEP, 100-year concessions for 17 oil fields, with proven reserves of about 65 billion barrels. Trump had on Friday announced a deal with Caracas that would give the US majority control over 65 billion barrels, or about 20% of its massive oil reserves.