India's Oil Minister Says He Felt No US Pressure on Russian Crude as Rubio Pitches American and Venezuelan Oil

India's oil minister says Washington never leaned on him over Russian crude. The US Secretary of State is in the country this week making the case for buying someone else's oil.

Hardeep Singh Puri was asked at an industry event in Goa on Tuesday, Oct. 27, whether India had felt pressure from the United States to cut Russian oil imports. "I never felt anything," he said.

Puri: it's about price

Puri put the whole matter in commercial terms. Russian crude made up just 0.2% of India's oil imports before the Ukraine war, he said. Purchases surged after the invasion because Russian oil was available at a discount.

The mix is now shifting. Indian refiners are cutting Russian purchases because they can get more Gulf oil at a discount, Puri said, and Middle Eastern producers are able to ship more cargoes.

Ship-tracking data shows India's imports of Middle Eastern crude surged in September, back to pre-war levels, while refiners pulled back on Russian oil amid stiff competition from China for those barrels.

"Whatever people say or do, ultimately it is anchored in their self-interest," Puri said. He added that India is expanding its refining capacity to meet domestic demand and export commitments.

Rubio's sales pitch

Rubio's trip puts energy at the center of the agenda. The State Department said he met Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar in Mumbai and "reiterated that increased energy trade with the United States can play a transformative role in diversifying India's supply chains while meeting its sizable consumer demand."

He also praised progress on bilateral defense and civil nuclear cooperation and urged India to buy more US technology and systems, according to the department.

At a press conference in Mumbai, Rubio suggested India take more Venezuelan oil. "I'm not claiming to you that Venezuela alone can fill the hole that could be caused by some of the things that are happening around the world, but I think over time it most certainly can, and in the short term it can somewhat provide relief," he said.

He called India a "refining superpower" and said he planned to tour Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery, the world's largest, and meet CEO Mukesh Ambani. Asked why a Secretary of State would meet a foreign CEO, Rubio pointed to his second job as National Security Adviser. "Countries fight wars over energy," he said.

Trump announced in March that Reliance is investing about $300 billion in the United States, including a refinery in Texas. Reliance is also the largest buyer of Venezuelan crude outside the US, with most of it shipped to Jamnagar, according to Breitbart.

Two readings of the same decline

The two governments describe the Russian-oil question differently. Rubio confirmed the administration remains concerned about India's Russian purchases. Breitbart's account says those purchases have declined under US pressure but remain large.

Puri's account is that no pressure was applied and that the market did the work, through Gulf discounts. Ship-tracking data also points to stiff Chinese competition for Russian cargoes. Both can describe the same drop in Russian barrels. They disagree on why it happened.

The awkward backdrop

Washington's push on India comes as a Russian diesel tanker is reportedly heading for the United States. Fox News's America Reports described the shipment on Oct. 23 as part of President Trump's diesel deal with Russia. Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Arnold Punaro discussed the arrangement on the program, along with Russian efforts to build a Starlink-like satellite network, possibly with Chinese support, and Moscow's continued strikes on Ukraine.

The terms of the diesel deal, the size of the cargo and the tanker's destination port were not spelled out in that segment. The administration is asking India to wean itself off Russian crude while Russian fuel moves toward American ports. Whether the two policies fit together is a question the administration has not publicly answered.

What to watch

The next concrete marker is Rubio's planned Jamnagar visit and his meeting with Ambani. Neither government has announced a purchase commitment for Venezuelan or US crude, and Puri's comments suggest Indian refiners will keep buying wherever the discount is deepest.