Reliance Industries, the conglomerate led by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani and an investor in a historic U.S. refinery project proposed by President Donald Trump, has become the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude outside the United States.
Trump has urged India to increase its purchases of Venezuelan oil. Although state-owned Indian refiners have made opportunistic buys, Reliance remains the dominant purchaser, according to Kpler data shared with CNBC. India is the largest destination for Venezuelan supplies outside the U.S., with Reliance accounting for most of those imports.
“Reliance’s Jamnagar complex has been the main destination for Venezuelan crude in India, and we expect it to remain the primary buyer,” Sumit Ritolia, lead research analyst at Kpler, told CNBC.
India imported 257,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude in September, with 76% of that volume going to Reliance Industries, the data showed. Reliance describes its Jamnagar facility as the world’s “largest and most complex single-site refinery,” with the capacity to process 1.4 million barrels of crude per day.
Venezuela’s heavy and extra-heavy crude grades are challenging to refine and cannot be processed by every refinery in India, Ritolia said. Jamnagar, however, is especially well equipped to handle those barrels.
In March, Trump announced that the U.S. would build its first refinery in 50 years with investment from Reliance Industries. The president praised the company for making what he called a “tremendous investment.”
Reliance has not disclosed the size of its planned investment. Trump nevertheless wrote on Truth Social that it was “THIS IS A HISTORIC $300 BILLION DOLLAR DEAL — THE BIGGEST IN U.S. HISTORY.”
Reliance is India’s most valuable company, with a market capitalization exceeding $169 billion.
The company’s Venezuelan crude purchases come as India faces growing U.S. criticism over its imports of Russian oil. American lawmakers have granted Trump authority to impose tariffs of up to 100% on countries buying energy from Moscow.
Despite pressure to purchase more U.S. energy and reduce its reliance on Russian crude, the Indian government maintains that its procurement decisions are guided by the need to safeguard the country’s energy security.
Russian oil shipments to India “moderated” in September from unusually high levels recorded in June and July. However, the change was primarily the result of intensified competition between Beijing and New Delhi rather than tariff threats, Ritolia said.
India remained the largest destination for Russian crude in September, importing 1.82 million barrels per day compared with China’s 1.49 million barrels per day, according to Kpler. Those volumes were substantially higher than India’s Venezuelan crude purchases.
Venezuela is expected to send 350,000 barrels per day of crude to India in October. Some of that oil may arrive in November because of the lengthy voyage, Ritolia said.
