Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries, which is investing in a historic U.S. oil refinery project proposed by President Donald Trump, has now emerged as the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude outside the U.S.
Trump has been pushing India to buy more Venezuelan oil, but while state-owned oil companies are making opportunistic purchases, Reliance has been the primary buyer, according to Kpler data shared with CNBC. It shows that outside the U.S., India is the biggest destination for these supplies, with Reliance purchasing the bulk of that crude.
"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.
In September, India imported 257,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude, of which 76% went to Reliance Industries, data showed. The Jamnagar refinery is the world's "largest and most complex single-site refinery" with crude processing capacity of 1.4 million barrels per day, according to Reliance.
Venezuelan heavy and extra-heavy grades of crude are relatively difficult barrels to process and are not universally suitable across India's refining system, Ritola said, adding that the Jamnagar complex is particularly well configured for these barrels.