Two Ambanis for America: The Man Who Musk Sees as a Challenge to Starlink's Expansion in India Is an Opportunity for Trump's Oil Ambitions

MARCO RUBIO, US Secretary of State, recently concluded a three day visit to India on October 20-22, 2026, which marks a significant step in America’s quest to maintain the supply of the crude oil from its Venezuelan arsenal. His second visit to India, in a span of less than six months, attracted more eyes when he chose over New Delhi, a traditional destination for the diplomats, a lesser known city in the state of Gujarat — Jamnagar, which currently has a significant role in shaping new dynamics between USA and India.

But one man that has been the center of talk this month is Mukesh Ambani, as of October 24, 2026, holding the title of richest person of India with net worth of around $82 billion according to Forbes. Because he’s the chairman of Reliance that has the world's largest single-site crude oil refinery in Jamnagar, which the Trump’s administration is looking up to. 

Ambani, a few days ago, was also at the target of Elon Musk, the world's richest person. Musk is considered an ally of Trump who heavily funded him during the president election back in 2024, has locked his horns with the Indian billionaire by directly addressing him as the ‘Boss of India’ and ‘Dear Prime Minister Ambani,’ a satire borne out of his frustration that his satellite internet provider Starlink is still not being able to enter the Indian market. He alleged Ambani in his post on X,  because of him there is an uncertain delay in entry of Starlink in India, which is a disservice to the great  people of the country.

But certainly this grudge of Musk towards Ambani couldn’t  do away with the possibility of the Trump administration reaching out to Ambani as he is the big fish but not definitely in a small pond. Reliance is one of the world's largest suppliers of refined petroleum products. One petroleum product, diesel, which the US currently is in dire need of, has compelled America to lift sanctions from its imports from Russia, in October. This move, certainly, has weakened the US effort to make Russia impoverished by not making other players buy their energy and oil. This came at a time when he was browbeating every other country and putting tariffs on countries, including India, who were buying cheap Russian oil and allegedly indirectly financing Russia to sustain the war with Ukraine. Due to lack of supply of diesel, Trump doesn’t want the energy prices to go high amid midterm elections scheduled on November 3, 2026.

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Why Rubio's Visit to Jamnagar is Significant

Rubio’s visit to the Jamnagar facility comes as Washington’s effort to make India diversify its energy imports, and seeking a reliable partner in the trade of Venezuelan oil. The city hosts the world’s largest single-site oil-refining compound which processes 1.4 millions barrels per day which comprises almost 1.5 percent of total refining capacity of the world, according to the Reliance. One of the distinct specifications, it is famous for that it can refine heavy, sulphur-rich crude which many other facilities fail to do efficiently, converting the imported crude oil into the outcome of higher value and export those higher value products, as per the need, across the world. Reliance’s biggest export is diesel, which is what  Trump cares about.

This is where the scenario of Venezuelan oil comes into the picture, which also holds the oil of heavy quality. The American Petroleum Institute’s API gravity scale, classifies the crude oil of Venezuela under the category of heavy oil, denser and often more sulphur-rich. This requires complex and costly refining processes to produce the products of higher value, the capacity which the Jamnagar refinery has excelled. One of the main reasons to capture the president of Venezuela Nicholas Maduro, on January 3, 2026 was to take hold upon the destination, which has world's largest crude oil reserves. And the US isn’t confident enough to get leverage of this oil in the immediate future at its home. That’s why the US is seeking a destination that can do this easily and it is none other than India. 

Before the visit of Jamnagar, Rubio described India as the ‘refining superpower.” “We will talk with Reliance about refining more Venezuelan crude,” Rubio told reporters. “They have the capability to refine heavy crude. They’ve done so in the past, and I think as more and more Venezuelan oil comes online, it’s something they can do,” he added.

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Musk or Ambani: Which Side Trump Will Choose? 

While behind the doors Elon Musk may be twisting the arms of Trump to pressurise India to get the access of his Starlink in India be sanctioned as soon as possible and he is expecting the support of Trump to join him in exerting his frustration through his domineering words upon Ambani but Trump would be reluctant to do that. The Indian billionaire is strongly backing the newly announced oil refinery at the Port of Brownsville in Texas, which is the first major US refinery in about 50 years, announced by Trump in March, 2026. The refinery is expected to process about 60  millions barrels of US crude annually and Reliance will buy a large chunk of that output for 20 years, according to Al Jazeera.

While Ambani’s presence may or may not be a direct hindrance in the way of Musk’s Starlink but it certainly has found its way in the heart of Musk’s, best friend, the president of USA Donald Trump, who cites the investment from India as an example of its successes in luring global capital. It would be Interesting to see how things would roll out, as the ambitious trade deal between US and India is reportedly in its last stage and both the parties are hopefully expecting to conclude it soon.

(Edited by Harsh Pandey)

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