Overview
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited Mumbai and then Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery on Wednesday to press India to buy more US energy, technology and defence equipment.
- Rubio publicly floated greater processing of Venezuelan and other Western‑Hemisphere crude at Jamnagar but left without any binding commercial commitment on new Venezuelan volumes.
- Both governments said the long‑running bilateral trade agreement is very close to completion with only a small number of items left to resolve, though no final text was announced.
- The visit took place after the White House issued a waiver on Russia‑linked energy sanctions, a move that gave Washington diplomatic room to press New Delhi on sourcing without immediate punitive steps.
- Reliance’s 1.4 million bpd Jamnagar complex is central to Washington’s plan to diversify global oil flows, but analysts and officials note commercial factors like feedstock prices, freight and existing Russian volumes will limit how fast sourcing can change.