By Gram Slattery
MUMBAI, Oct 20 (Reuters) - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to encourage India's Reliance Industries to refine more Venezuelan crude at its local refineries and potentially begin producing oil in the South American country, he told reporters in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Rubio landed in India's sweltering financial capital days after President Donald Trump waived potential sanctions on the world's top buyers of Russian oil, a list that includes India. The move is likely to help pave
the way for a trade deal between New Delhi and Washington, but has been panned by US lawmakers, who complain that the Trump administration has been far too soft on Moscow.
During the two-day visit to Mumbai and Jamnagar in the western part of the country, Rubio is slated to meet government and business leaders, including Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar and billionaire Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, which operates the world's largest refining complex.
"We will talk about (refining more Venezuelan crude) tomorrow with Reliance...They have done so in the past, and I think as more and more of Venezuelan oil comes online, that is something they can do," Rubio told reporters.
Reliance's two massive refineries at the Jamnagar complex, with a combined capacity of about 1.4 million barrels per day of crude oil, are able to process the ultra-heavy crudes coming out of Venezuela, some of which have a sludge-like consistency. As Venezuela's oil production has increased following the Trump administration's capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in January, Reliance has emerged as a significant importer of the nation's crude.
Asked whether he would discuss the possibility of Reliance itself producing oil with Venezuela, Rubio said the matter had been discussed in the past, and that the matter would come up again. While Reliance is a major refiner of Venezuelan crude, it is not active inside the South American country.
"We are going to go see what the holdup is and what opportunities exist...this is a company that has had a presence in Venezuela in the past, and whose refining capabilities are substantial," he said.
NEW DELHI, WASHINGTON CLOSE IN ON TRADE DEAL
Rubio's visit comes as Trump removed one potential stumbling block to a trade deal between the countries last Friday when he waived potential tariffs that would have punished New Delhi for its extensive purchases of Russian crude oil.
Legislation signed by Trump in September authorizes the administration to impose tariffs of up to 100% on the top five importers of Russian oil, which would include India, which stands at number two on that list after China.
Trump's decision to waive all substantive provisions of that bill has upset both Democrats and Republicans who have pushed him to up economic pressure on Moscow for its war with Ukraine.
Rubio has said the effort to finalize a trade deal was a factor in the decision to waive those tariffs, and a comprehensive trade deal is almost complete, raising the possibility that it could be signed during his visit.
He said the Trump administration was entering a 60-day review period, during which it would consider which new tariffs, if any, to impose.
While the Trump administration has in the past pressed India to cut Russian oil imports, the US signed a deal with Russia last week to import diesel in a bid to cut domestic fuel prices before the midterm elections, making it unclear to what extent that remains a foreign policy priority.
"Every country has a complex set of factors that they have to take into account," Rubio told reporters on Monday when asked about India's Russian oil purchases.
India imports more than 85% of its crude oil requirements to help power its fast-growing economy.
Rubio's India visit follows a trip to the Uzbekistan city of Samarkand, where he met Central Asian political and business leaders.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery; Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Sanjeev Miglani, Clarence Fernandez and Chizu Nomiyama )
