Rubio talks with refiners in India about buying Venezuelan oil, diversifying global energy trade

A Venezuelan-India connection would diversify energy imports away from Russia and provide routes around the Strait of Hormuz, which is vulnerable to disruptions from Iran.

Published: October 21, 2026 10:01am

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is traveling to a coastal city in western India on Wednesday that is home to the world's largest oil-refining complex. 

Rubio said Tuesday that he would discuss increasing Venezuelan oil processing with Reliance Industries in Jamnagar, India. He said that India could play a key role in refining Venezuelan oil as production increases in the South American country, the Associated Press reported. 

“They have the capability to refine heavy crude. They’ve done so in the past, and I think as more and more Venezuelan oil comes online, it’s something they can do,” he told reporters Tuesday in Mumbai.

A Venezuelan-India connection would diversify energy imports away from Russia and provide routes around the Strait of Hormuz, which is vulnerable to disruptions from Iran. 

“Energy is related to national security. You know, countries fight wars over energy, as an example. Economies collapse over lack of energy. So we’re going to go see a company that has a tremendous amount of refining capability, so it makes all the sense in the world to talk to them about it,” Rubio said.

 

 

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