Reliance Industries shares hit one-year high; here is why

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) climbed 1.18 per cent in Monday's trade to touch a one-year high of Rs 1,611.20. The stock remained in focus after global brokerage Jefferies flagged potential benefits for RIL, along with another refiner, from developments linked to Venezuela's oil industry.

Jefferies said refiners could stand to gain from a possible US-led takeover or deeper involvement in Venezuela's oil sector.

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro was captured by US authorities on January 3 and taken to the United States to face charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy and cocaine importation conspiracy. Following this, US President Donald Trump announced that US oil companies would invest an unspecified amount to revive Venezuela's oil infrastructure and ramp up oil production, enabling higher crude flows to the US and other markets.

Venezuela has the largest oil reserves globally at 303 billion barrels. However, its production has declined significantly over the years. The country produced around 0.9 million barrels per day (mbd) in November 2025, compared with nearly 2 mbd in the early 2010s.

Jefferies said, "Venezuelan crude is heavy, sour, and acidic, and few refineries worldwide are capable of processing it. This crude used to trade at a $5-8/bbl discount to Brent. In 2012, Reliance agreed to buy ~20 per cent of its daily crude requirements from PDVSA. This deal was discontinued once Venezuelan crude came under US sanctions in 2019. With the US announcing it would sell Venezuelan crude to global buyers, Reliance could tie up supplies at a discount to Brent that could aid its GRMs."