'Venezuelan oil flowing to US despite sanctions': Energy expert blasts America's double standards

Anas Alhajji, a top energy analyst, on Thursday exposed the United States' hypocrisy when he pointed out that while the US was punishing India for imports of Russian crude oil, it was importing oil from Venezuela despite sanctions. He also flagged that the EU was importing a significant amount of natural gas and LNG from Russia, but no one was objecting to it. 

"It seems that there is more to the story than Russian imports," Alhajji said in an interview with CNBC on US President Donald Trump's 50% tariff on Indian imports tied to Russian oil. "The EU imports a significant amount of natural gas and LNG from Russia. No one said anything. Turkey imports significant amounts of oil from Russia, and Turkish exports of petroleum products to Europe are higher than that of India."

He further stressed the inconsistency in US actions, saying, Washington's imports from Russia in the first 5 months of this year went up by 23%. "The US still imports uranium from Russia. No one is saying anything about it. Today, we have tankers arriving from Venezuela delivering oil to the United States despite the sanctions. So it seems that there is more to the story than just Russian oil."

Reuters reported last week that the US had resumed imports of Venezuelan oil under a new license to Chevron. Two tankers chartered by Chevron carrying Venezuelan crude reached US waters last week, marking the first U.S. imports of Venezuela's oil following a new license granted by the Trump administration, Reuters reported, citing vessel tracking data.

The US Treasury Department last month issued a restricted license to Chevron, allowing the company to operate in Venezuela and export its oil. The Mediterranean Voyager and Canopus Voyager vessels reportedly loaded Venezuelan Boscan and Hamaca crudes earlier this month after negotiations with PDVSA, which is Chevron's Venezuelan partner.

In response to White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's accusations that India is running a "profiteering scheme" by buying discounted Russian oil, Alhajji set the record straight: "If you look at Navarro’s arguments, for example, he is saying that Indian refiners are making a lot of money by importing and exporting a significant amount. And this argument is false. If you look at Indian petroleum product exports before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and now, it’s virtually the same. So the idea that they are importing to export is not correct."

The energy expert also explained that the situation is more about a shift in trade patterns rather than profiteering. "In fact, what we've seen since the Russian invasion is ...change in the direction of trade. India was exporting those petroleum products to Asia and they diverted that to Europe because Europe or the EU sanctioned itself from importing Russian petroleum products. So, India basically is compensating for that, while the Asian market is supplied by the new refineries in the Middle East in Kuwait, UAE and Oman."

Not just Alhajji, several experts have called out US hypocrisy regarding its stance on Russian oil. While India faces significant tariffs for purchasing Russian crude, China, the largest buyer of Russian oil, has not faced any tariffs from Washington.