Rubio to Discuss Venezuelan Oil With Reliance

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States will discuss with Reliance refining more Venezuelan crude and producing oil in Venezuela, putting energy cooperation at the center of his India visit. Rubio made the remarks to journalists after arriving in Mumbai on October 20, 2026, as he prepared to travel to the company’s Jamnagar refinery the next day. Rubio also said India had made substantial progress diversifying its energy supplies, including away from Russia. He described diversification as a process that could not happen overnight. His comments were an assessment of India’s progress; they did not establish that the country had stopped buying Russian oil. The visit comes as the two governments pursue a trade agreement. Rubio said negotiations were very close, with a small number of items remaining, and expressed hope that an announcement would come soon. The governments had not announced a completed agreement or a signing date in the reporting. A framework for an interim agreement was announced in February, with proposed terms including a U.S. reciprocal tariff on specified Indian goods and lower Indian barriers to U.S. products. Reliance’s refinery complex...