Rubio skips Delhi for Reliance's Jamnagar refinery as US seeks oil relief
The US Secretary of State called India a "refining superpower" and pressed Reliance to process more Venezuelan crude ahead of the US midterms.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio ended his India visit at Reliance Industries' refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, rather than in New Delhi. The BBC and The Straits Times reported that the trip was built around Washington's push to bring down fuel prices.
Rubio arrived in Mumbai on Tuesday and met Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar at the Taj Hotel, along with business leaders. According to official statements cited by the BBC, the talks covered trade, investment, energy security and defence, and both sides reaffirmed their commitment to concluding a trade deal. The BBC said that deal has been under negotiation for around 20 months.
On Wednesday he toured the Jamnagar complex during a visit with limited media access and met members of the Ambani family, including Mukesh Ambani. The refinery can process about 1.4 million barrels of crude a day, which the BBC said is roughly 1.5 per cent of global refining capacity, according to the company website. Reliance's statement afterwards did not mention any commitments to buy crude or supply refined products.
A day earlier Rubio had called India a "refining superpower" and said the US wanted Reliance to refine more Venezuelan oil. "They have the capability to refine heavy crude," he told reporters, the BBC reported. The Straits Times, citing Bloomberg, said India's imports of Venezuelan oil reached their highest level in almost seven years in October.
Both outlets linked the visit to pressure on the Trump administration to keep fuel prices down before November's midterm elections, with little new refining capacity expected in the US. Michael Kugelman of the Atlantic Council told the BBC that Delhi "is where the trust gap is largest". Former Indian ambassador to the US Meera Shankar said it "was primarily an energy-focused visit".
The Straits Times reported that India's petroleum product exports rose about 37 per cent year on year to more than US$41.18 billion between April and September, according to government data. Merchandise exports to Singapore climbed about 103 per cent to US$11.07 billion over the same period, and petroleum exports to Singapore were worth more than US$4.51 billion from April to August. India is the world's fourth-largest crude refiner, with installed capacity of around 267 million tonnes a year and a target of 309.5 million tonnes by 2030.
The outlets gave different accounts of Reliance's proposed refinery at Brownsville, Texas. The Straits Times said Reliance had pledged to build it, with the investment reported at US$300 billion. The BBC said Reliance had not commented publicly and no project details had been released. Kugelman told the BBC that one of Rubio's aims was to confirm Reliance was still interested in the project.
On Russia, the BBC said Washington imposed an extra 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods in August 2025 over Russian oil purchases and withdrew it in February 2026. The Straits Times reported that on October 16 President Donald Trump waived Russia-related sanctions and tariffs that would have affected big buyers of Russian oil, India among them.
Sources: The Straits Times, India is a ‘refining superpower’, says Rubio, as the world faces a potential energy crisis; BBC News, Rubio turns to small Indian town as US faces high oil prices.
