India's oil trade with Venezuela has gone down since sanctions: Ambassador

India's oil trade with Venezuela has gone down since sanctions were imposed on the Latin American country, its Ambassador to India Augusto Montiel said on Tuesday.

Montiel, while speaking to reporters on the current situation in Venzuela, said the country is currently selling 400,000 barrels of oil per day to India.

"Earlier, it used to be around 500,000 barrels per day to India. We sell oil to Indian companies and we bring crude oil for many refineries and we are trying to produce more oil to satisfy India's oil needs but the US government is trying to cripple Venezuela's oil industry and economy," he said.

In response to a question, he said, "Yes, the oil trade between India and Venezuela has gone down since imposition of sanctions on Venezuela."

Venezuela has been battling hyperinflation, power cuts and severe shortages of basic items such as food and medicine.

The US has imposed tough sanctions on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's regime. The Trump administration is blocking ..