Rubio Visits Reliance's Jamnagar Refinery, the World's Largest, in India

NEW DELHI, India — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in India for a two-day visit. Under his schedule, he will travel to the Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat state, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries and a major player in the global oil market.

Reliance's refinery in the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the largest single-site refinery in the world. In many respects, Reliance Industries' business sits at the crossroads of today's global energy crisis.

The conglomerate is a central player in Washington's push to sanction buyers of Russian energy while also holding down oil prices amid conflict with Iran and rising US diesel prices ahead of a key midterm election. Reliance also recently pledged a major investment in the United States, which President Donald Trump's administration has cited as an example of success in attracting global capital.

Rubio skipped the capital, New Delhi, at a time when US-India relations are turbulent, strained by a series of flashpoints and a trade deal that remains distant.

Where is Rubio visiting?

After meetings in Mumbai, India's financial hub in Maharashtra state, Rubio will fly to Jamnagar in neighboring Gujarat, near the Gulf of Kutch. Jamnagar opens onto the Arabian Sea and hosts Reliance Industries' refinery complex, a major hub for crude processing and fuel exports with a capacity of 1.4 million barrels per day.

Rubio visited India earlier this year, but this trip is "a little bit more business-focused," US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor told reporters last week. A statement from Rubio's office said he will "meet with business leaders to advance trade and investment opportunities and economic cooperation."

"In Jamnagar, he'll be meeting with some folks from Reliance," Gor said.

What makes Jamnagar special?

The world's largest single-site refinery has a total crude processing capacity of 1.4 million barrels per day, equivalent to nearly 1.5% of global refining capacity, according to company figures.

The complex comprises two plants: the original facility, which began operating in 1999 with a capacity of 660,000 bpd, and a second, export-oriented plant in a special economic zone that came online in 2008 with an additional 580,000 bpd.

Jamnagar imports crude from international suppliers and exports refined products to global markets. The plant can process heavy, high-sulfur crude that many other facilities cannot handle efficiently, converting it into higher-value products.

Reliance said last month that the complex has processed more than 216 types of crude and describes itself as "perhaps the only refinery to have achieved this feat."

Jamnagar's capacity is also driving a strong revival in imports of Venezuelan crude — a source taken over by the US earlier this year after the arrest of former President Nicolas Maduro — as Washington seeks to reshape global oil trade.

According to estimates by analytics firm Kpler, Reliance is expected to account for roughly 350,000 to 370,000 bpd of October's imports. "We'll be talking to Reliance about refining more Venezuelan crude," Rubio told reporters in brief remarks on Tuesday.

Why does this refinery matter for global energy supply?

Reliance is a central player in keeping global oil markets stable, as one of the world's largest suppliers of refined oil products. In September, for instance, six of the seven large cargo ships docking at European Union ports carrying oil products were carrying Reliance cargoes.

Reliance's biggest export is diesel — a fuel of particular interest to Trump as US prices hit record highs ahead of next month's midterm elections.

Although per-product export data is not published, a Reuters analysis based on trade sources shows Reliance Industries exported 21.66 million tonnes of refined oil products from Jamnagar in the first half of 2025. Diesel accounted for the largest share at 9.81 million tonnes, followed by gasoline at 6.14 million tonnes and jet fuel at 2.06 million tonnes.

Europe accounted for the largest share of the company's exports, taking 28% of Reliance's refined products in the period. Customers include BP, ExxonMobil, Glencore, Vitol and Trafigura.

Jamnagar also exported about $143 million worth of oil products to the United States last month, according to data cited by the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

CREA noted in its report that the EU ban on imports of refined oil products made from Russian crude starting in January 2026 is not enough to stop products from third-country refineries entering Europe when those refineries also process Russian crude. The Jamnagar refinery is a prime example of that loophole.

Rubio's visit comes as Trump faces his lowest approval ratings, driven by inflation and rising fuel prices ahead of the November midterms. Only about 31% of Americans approve of Trump's job performance — the lowest of both his terms, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

The Trump administration is also reportedly pressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to halt attacks on Russian energy facilities, which have shaken global fuel markets.

Why does this refinery matter for the Russia-Ukraine war?

Reliance is also a key player in US efforts to influence how much Russian oil is sold.

Since Russia launched its full-scale military campaign in Ukraine in February 2022, India has emerged as the second-largest buyer of Russian oil after China. And Reliance has been the engine of that rise in imports. While only 3% of the company's oil originated in Russia before 2022, that share rose to 50% in 2025.

So when Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods in August 2025 to punish New Delhi for buying Russian oil, Reliance was directly affected. The company significantly cut Russian crude imports in the following months, but that oil still accounted for a third of the crude processed at Jamnagar in the third quarter of 2026.

That was put at risk when the Trump administration signaled it was ready to impose a 100% tariff on Indian goods over continued Russian oil imports, under a new law passed last month.

But Trump later suspended the proposed tariffs, easing concerns for India and Reliance.

Rubio said India is diversifying its import mix and gradually reducing its dependence on Russian crude, even though the country still buys millions of barrels of Russian oil a day. "There are countries like India, for example, that have voluntarily diversified their energy portfolio, but still receive a large amount of energy from Russia because it's very hard to pivot overnight," Rubio said on Sunday.

"But they're also an important ally and partner of the United States."

Is Reliance investing in the US?

Yes. India's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries' chairman and CEO, is investing in the US, mainly through energy-related projects.

The company is backing America First Refining's planned refinery at the Port of Brownsville, Texas — also the first major US refinery in about 50 years, announced by Trump in March.

The plant is expected to cost $3–4 billion and process about 60 million barrels of US crude a year. Reliance has signed a 20-year agreement to buy most of the facility's output, which is expected to come online around 2029.

In November 2024, Reliance's US subsidiary also bought a 21% stake in helium exploration company Wavetech Helium for $12 million as part of a low-carbon energy strategy.

Last month, Trump announced that India's Essar Group — an oil and gas player with deep ties to Russia — plans to invest $18 billion in integrated steel in the US through subsidiary Mesabi Metallics.

Didn't a Trump ally recently clash with Ambani?

Despite Reliance's US investments and Rubio's upcoming visit, Elon Musk — the world's richest man and a close Trump ally — recently attacked Ambani.

His satellite telecom company Starlink has for years struggled to secure a license to operate in India.

In a series of recent posts on X, Musk accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of delaying Starlink's market entry to favor Jio, Ambani's telecom company and the market leader. Musk also taunted Ambani directly, calling him "Prime Minister Ambani" and asking whether he would "consider allowing Starlink to compete." Starlink, Musk wrote, is being blocked by "gatekeepers" protecting their "monopoly" over the people of India.

In a statement on X, Reliance said the company has "never been afraid of competition" and has "grown in an India that welcomes investment and innovation, whether domestic or international."