Why Rubio is visiting Reliance’s oil refinery in India, the world’s largest — SkimNews
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- Rubio arrived in India for a two-day, business-focused visit and plans to meet Reliance representatives at the Jamnagar refinery after meetings in Mumbai, with commercial investment and economic cooperation on the agenda.
- Jamnagar’s Reliance-owned complex processes 1.4 million barrels per day—nearly 1.5% of global refining capacity—and can process heavy, sulphur-rich crude that many other facilities cannot handle efficiently.
- Rubio said he would discuss refining more Venezuelan crude with Reliance; Kpler estimates the company’s October Venezuelan-crude intake at 350,000–370,000 barrels per day.
- Reliance increased Russian crude’s share of its oil purchases from 3% before 2022 to 50% in 2025, but still processed Russian crude equal to one-third of Jamnagar’s input in the July–September 2026 quarter after U.S. tariffs prompted cutbacks.
- CREA said the European Union’s January 2026 ban inadequately blocked Russian-crude products made by third-country refineries and identified Jamnagar as a prime example of the loophole.
- Reliance exported 21.66 million tonnes of refined products from Jamnagar in the first half of 2025, including 9.81 million tonnes of diesel; six of seven large oil-product cargoes docking at European Union ports in September carried its goods.
- Reliance is backing America First Refining’s planned $3–4 billion Port of Brownsville refinery, designed to process 60 million barrels of U.S. crude annually under a 20-year output agreement, with operations expected around 2029.
Why it matters: Reliance’s 1.4 million bpd scale gives Washington a concrete lever over Venezuelan sourcing and Russian-oil enforcement: the facility holds nearly 1.5% of global refining capacity and still processed Russian crude equal to one-third of its input in July–September 2026. The visit also links that leverage to U.S. diesel concerns and a $3–$4 billion Texas refinery investment.
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