U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Tours Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery, the World’s Largest
New Delhi – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in India for a two‑day trip that will include a visit to the Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat, owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. The plant, located in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, is the world’s largest single‑site oil refinery.
Rubio will bypass the capital, New Delhi, and after meetings in Mumbai, the financial hub of Maharashtra, he will fly to Jamnagar on the Gulf of Kutch. The Jamnagar complex processes about 1.4 million barrels of crude each day, roughly 1.5 percent of global refining capacity. It consists of the original 660,000‑barrel‑per‑day unit commissioned in 1999 and a second export‑focused refinery added in 2008 with a capacity of 580,000 bpd, operating in a special economic zone.
“The trip is a little more business‑focused,” U.S. ambassador to India Sergio Gor told reporters last week. A readout from Rubio’s office said he would “meet with business leaders to promote opportunities for commercial investment and economic cooperation.” Gor added that at Jamnagar “he will meet some of the folks at Reliance.”
Reliance’s Jamnagar complex can handle heavy, sulphur‑rich crude that many refineries cannot process, turning it into higher‑value fuels. The company says it has processed more than 216 crude grades, a claim it describes as unique. Analysts at Kpler estimate that Reliance will take in roughly 350,000 to 370,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude in October, a development tied to Washington’s effort to reshape global oil trade after the United States seized Venezuelan assets earlier this year.
The refinery is a key node in global energy supplies. In September, six of the seven large cargo ships that docked at European Union ports with oil products were carrying Reliance cargoes. Diesel is Reliance’s biggest export, a product that has surged in price in the United States ahead of the November midterm elections. Reuters analysis of trade data shows that in the first half of 2025 the Jamnagar plant shipped 21.66 million tonnes of refined products, including 9.81 million tonnes of diesel, 6.14 million tonnes of petrol and 2.06 million tonnes of jet fuel. Europe accounted for the largest share of those exports, about 28 percent, with buyers such as BP, ExxonMobil, Glencore, Vitol and Trafigura. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) reported that the refinery sent roughly $143 million of oil products to the United States last month.
Rubio said in brief remarks on Tuesday, “We will talk with Reliance about refining more Venezuelan crude.” His visit comes as President Donald Trump faces low approval ratings, with only about 31 percent of Americans expressing satisfaction with his performance amid rising inflation and fuel costs ahead of the midterms. The trip underscores Washington’s interest in securing stable energy supplies while navigating geopolitical tensions involving Russia, Iran and Venezuela.