Oil & Natural Gas Corp.’s overseas investment arm is seeking to take over operatorship of two shallow onshore oil blocks in Venezuela from state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA, as the South American nation becomes a key focus after receiving a US license to operate there, the company’s chief financial officer said.ONGC Videsh Ltd. recently secured a license from the US Office of Foreign Assets Control, giving it “full freedom” to operate in Venezuela, ONGC CFO Anupam Agarwal told analysts on an earnings call. ONGC Videsh holds a 40% stake in the San Cristobal field and an 11% stake in the Carabobo-1 block.The two projects are comparable to ONGC’s onshore acreage in India’s western state of Gujarat, providing the company with the technical expertise to operate them, Agarwal said.“We are very upbeat for Venezuela and we believe very soon we will see some positive developments,” said Agarwal, who expects to sign new agreements and take over the operatorship for “some of these projects from PDVSA.”Venezuela’s interim government last month published long-awaited oil regulations that effectively end the decades-long dominance of PDVSA over the country’s oil industry. The rules allow private companies to operate across the value chain, from production to fuel retailing. They also introduce fiscal terms that link taxes to the risk profile of assets, ranging from mature onshore fields to offshore projects.India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, has been seeking to diversify crude supplies beyond the Middle East while expanding overseas upstream investments to improve energy security and reduce exposure to price shocks.ONGC Videsh is in discussions with Venezuelan authorities and its joint venture partners on investments in the two projects, Agarwal said.More stories like this are available on bloomberg.comPublished on August 6, 2026