Rubio visits Reliance's Jamnagar refinery today with Venezuelan oil on the table

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio heads to Gujarat on Wednesday to tour Reliance Industries’ refinery complex at Jamnagar, the world’s largest, on the second day of his India visit, with Venezuelan oil high on his list.

Rubio told journalists as he began the trip that Washington would discuss with Reliance refining more Venezuelan crude, and also producing oil in Venezuela itself. He called India a refining superpower able to handle heavy crude, and pointed to existing Indian oil interests in Venezuela as a base from which output could be raised.

The State Department said he would also meet business leaders. The Ambani family is hosting the Jamnagar leg, which includes a visit to the Vantara animal facility, and officials have described the programme as a “private visit”.

The stop follows Tuesday’s talks in Mumbai with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, after which Rubio said the two countries were “about as close as you can be” to a trade agreement. Energy has been at the heart of the strain between them: India’s purchases of discounted Russian crude since 2022 drew punitive US tariffs, and Washington must still decide on possible penalties against countries that keep buying Russian oil.

Jamnagar matters because of what it can process. Most Indian refineries are configured for the medium-sour grades of the Middle East and Russia. Venezuelan crude is heavier still, while American oil is mostly light and has to be blended. The Jamnagar complex handles a wide range of grades and exports diesel, aviation fuel and other products to buyers abroad.

India has said it will buy more energy from the United States while widening its pool of suppliers, at a time when the West Asia crisis has squeezed oil flows from the Gulf.