India has asked one buyer of Venezuelan oil to consider paying the South American nation’s national oil company PDVSA in a way that avoids the US financial system, an Indian government source said, after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Venezuela last month.
The United States is seeking to cut off Venezuela’s oil revenue and pressurise the nation’s President Nicolas Maduro to step down after it recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as head of state.
The sanctions mean that if oil buyers pay PDVSA through the US banking system, the funds could be seized by US authorities. There may also be problems for transactions by banks that have a heavy US presence even if they aren’t in US dollars and don’t go through the US.
