RIL Denies Bloomberg's Claims, No Russian Oil for Jamnagar Refinery

After the refiner resumed some purchases for domestic production, at least three tankers carrying Russian crude are pointing to Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) refinery on the west coast of India as their next stop.

According to data analytics company Kpler (cited by Bloomberg), the ships carrying about 2.2 million barrels of Urals are currently signalling the massive Jamnagar complex and are anticipated to deliver their cargoes early this month. Based on real-time signals from captains indicating their present location and impending discharge ports, Kpler tracks the passage of vessels. Destinations can alter as the ships approach India. However, in a recent set of events, RIL has denied and such claims of any such Russian oil imports.

US Sanctions Forced Reliance to Use Russian Crude for Exports

After Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC were blacklisted by the US, Reliance first retreated, but in November it declared that it would no longer use Russian crude at the export-orientated portion of its refinery. Since then, it has begun obtaining barrels for domestic use from unapproved Russian suppliers. Prior to this, Rosneft was the refiner's main supplier of Russian oil, supported by a long-term agreement to deliver 500,000 barrels per day.

President Donald Trump and important members of his administration have criticised India, a major supplier of oil from the OPEC+ producer in recent years, for its commerce with Russia; the public has responded to these criticisms with defiance. Due to the uncertainty, the country's refiners have reduced their purchases; in one month, imports fell to their lowest point in three years. According to Kpler data, Reliance, which is owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, was the world's largest purchaser of Russian oil for most of 2024 and 2025.

Reliance Refutes Claims of Russian Crude Shipments

On January 6, Reliance Industries Ltd vehemently denied allegations of Russian oil imports to its refinery in Jamnagar, claiming that such news stories are "blatantly untrue" and are "tarnishing" its reputation. The Mumbai-based business reaffirmed that it has not received any Russian oil imports in the last three weeks and does not anticipate receiving any Russian crude oil deliveries this month, citing a Bloomberg News article. A Bloomberg article that stated that "three vessels laden with Russian oil are heading for Reliance Industries Limited's Jamnagar refinery" was untrue, the firm claimed in a statement on X. Reliance also said it was disappointed that the report's release allegedly disregarded their rejection.

"A news report in Bloomberg claiming "three vessels laden with Russian Oil are heading for Reliance Industries Limited's Jamnagar refinery" is blatantly untrue. Reliance Industries's Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of Russian oil at its refinery in the past three weeks approx. and is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January," RIL posted on X.

Why India Prefers Russian Crude Oil?

Many other Indian refineries import Russian crude, including Reliance, Bharat Petroleum Corp., and the state-owned Indian Oil Corp. Deep discounts, thin refining margins, and the ambiguity surrounding the state of trade talks with Washington have all served to entice them. Data from Kpler indicates that the shipments were supplied by traders Alghaf Marine DMCC, Redwood Global Supply FZ LLC, RusExport, and Ethos Energy.

The UK has sanctioned both Redwood Global and Alghaf Marine, the former of which is the replacement for the Middle Eastern division of Litasco, the trade division of Lukoil. Over 40% of Reliance's imports from January to November of last year came from Russian oil supplies to the company's refinery complex in Jamnagar.