Energy ties in focus as Ambani hosts Marco Rubio at Jamnagar

US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Wednesday toured Reliance Industries Ltd’s (RIL) complex at Jamnagar in Gujarat, home to the world’s largest single-site oil refinery, after telling reporters earlier in the day that conversations between US authorities and the conglomerate were aimed at identifying opportunities to partner and work together in energy.

RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani and executive director Anant Ambani hosted Rubio, who also visited the Dhirubhai Ambani Green Energy Giga Complex and Vantara, the company’s animal rescue and conservation centre, and is staying overnight at the RIL township near Jamnagar. US ambassador to India Sergio Gor accompanied him.

Officials said Rubio was expected to discuss Venezuelan crude and RIL’s proposed refinery project in the US during the visit. The US State Department said in a post on X that Rubio’s second visit to India this year, focused on Mumbai and Jamnagar, underscored Washington’s commitment to commercial investment, energy cooperation and the strategic partnership between the two countries.

Before heading to Gujarat, Rubio met Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran in Mumbai. There were no formal readouts from the US side on these meetings.

Asked by reporters before the visit whether he was seeking an investment commitment from Reliance or an agreement to refine more Venezuelan crude, Rubio said he aimed to have a “broader discussion about their presence globally at a time in which energy is featuring prominently in many of the geopolitical decisions that are being made”.

Describing Reliance as a prominent energy company with a large investment in the US, he said: “This is a company…that has the capability to refine the heavy crude that’s produced in the western hemisphere, including from Venezuela…I think through our conversations, we’ll hopefully identify other opportunities to partner and work together.”

On Tuesday, Rubio had described India as a “refining superpower” while speaking to reporters in Mumbai, and said RIL could process larger volumes of Venezuelan crude as the country’s oil production increased. “We will talk with Reliance about refining more Venezuelan crude,” he said.

Rubio also met external affairs minister S Jaishankar in Mumbai on Tuesday and said the two countries were “very, very close” to finalising a bilateral trade deal.

According to an RIL statement, the visitors toured the refinery, which can process 1.4 million barrels of crude a day and has a complexity index of 21.1, which the company describes as the world’s highest and which allows it to process even the heaviest crude oils.

“The visit included wide-ranging discussions on the global energy landscape and opportunities for commercial partnerships across conventional and new energy,” the statement said. “The exchange covered reliable and affordable energy supplies, technological advances, resilient supply chains and the investment required to meet growing demand.”

The visit comes as the Trump administration grapples with high diesel prices ahead of the US midterm elections on November 3. Days before Rubio’s visit, President Donald Trump waived sanctions and tariffs under the Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, a week after announcing a deal with Russia to release roughly 5 million tonnes of Russian diesel onto the world market.

Reliance has also backed the construction of a refinery at the Port of Brownsville in Texas, the first major new oil refinery in the US in about 50 years, according to Trump who made an announcement in March, describing it as a “historic $300 billion dollar deal” — a reference to its projected economic value.

Gor highlighted the growth in energy trade between the two countries in a post on X. “Over the past year, India’s imports of US LPG have surged from under 10% to 67%, making the United States India’s largest LPG supplier,” he said, also describing RIL’s investment in the Texas refinery as an opportunity to expand American energy production and create jobs.

India’s imports of Venezuelan crude averaged 190,000 barrels a day in 2026, with about 80% of the volumes delivered to Sikka port, which serves the Jamnagar refinery, according to an S&P Global Commodity Insights report. Kpler estimates cited by Bloomberg earlier this month projected India’s Venezuelan crude imports at 465,000 barrels a day in October, up from 196,000 barrels a day in September.