ONGC Resumes Venezuelan Operations with US Licence

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has received a licence from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), allowing it to resume full-scale operations in Venezuela. The approval comes after years of restrictions linked to US sanctions.

The new licence is expected to give ONGC greater flexibility to invest in its Venezuelan assets and negotiate new arrangements with local authorities and partners. This may also enable the company to take over operatorship of some projects currently managed by PDVSA, Venezuela's state-owned oil company.

ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the company's overseas investment arm, owns a 40% stake in the San Cristobal project and an 11% interest in the Carabobo project. OVL Director-Finance Anupam Agarwal said the licence removes sanctions-related risks that had previously forced the company to limit its activities in Venezuela.

With this clearance, ONGC plans to increase production from its Venezuelan assets. The San Cristobal project produced approximately 0.265 million tonnes of oil equivalent in FY26, representing only around a tenth of its potential. The renewed expansion is seen as a strategic move by India to diversify overseas energy resources amid geopolitical uncertainty.