US Secretary of State Marco Rubio kicks off a three-day visit to India on Monday in the finance hub of Mumbai, before heading to Jamnagar, home to a major oil refinery owned by industrial titan Reliance Industries. Rubio's business-oriented visit comes as trade talks remain stalled amid continued ambiguity on punitive measures from the US over India's purchases of Russian oil. Reliance is a top buyer of Venezuelan oil.
The refinery can process 1.4 million barrels of crude oil a day, so it's a valuable exporter of diesel fuel for global markets. The refinery has also been a major buyer of Russian Urals crude, making it a significant part of India's energy relationship with Russia. In March, Washington unveiled plans for a new oil refinery in Texas, backed by Reliance.
US President Donald Trump has put the value of the project at $300 billion (€258 billion) and presented it as a way to help reduce the US trade deficit with India. Whether the project moves forward, and on what terms, will be closely watched. Since taking office for a second time in 2025, Trump has gone back and forth on tariff threats with India over what he considers to be unfair trade practices, along with India's continued purchases of Russian oil amid the war in Ukraine.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video In February 2026, Trump announced a "trade deal" that slashed US tariffs on Indian goods, in exchange for India lowering trade barriers and halting purchases of Russian oil. Trump had claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to stop buying Russian oil. However, this has never been confirmed by New Delhi.
While maritime data from Kpler, a commodities and energy-market intelligence company, showed Indian refiners briefly diversified supply away from Russia to avoid tightening sanctions, India's deep reliance on discounted Russian crude continues to be a cornerstone of its energy strategy. Russia remains India's top supplier of crude oil. In mid-September, Trump signed the "Lindsey O.
Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act," imposing 100% tariffs on top buyers of Russian oil and gas, which includes India. However, last week, just days before the legislation was due to go into effect, Trump signed an executive order pausing the sanctions. Before traveling to India, Rubio was in Uzbekistan for a meeting of the "C5+1" diplomatic platform comprising the US and five Central Asian countries.
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