Reliance Halts Russian Oil Purchases, January Imports May Hit Multi-Year Low
Oil: Reliance Industries has denied claims of purchasing oil from Russia and issued a statement stating that no shipments of Russian oil have arrived at Reliance's Jamnagar refinery for the past three weeks.
Reliance Industries' refusal to purchase Russian crude oil could lead to a multi-year low in January, due to the country's continued reliance on imports. Reliance stated that it does not expect to receive any shipments from Russia in January. This statement by Reliance comes after US President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that the US could further increase import tariffs on India due to its purchase of Russian oil. Reliance stated on social media that no shipments of Russian oil have arrived at Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery for the past three weeks.
Indeed, after the outbreak of the Ukraine war in 2022, India emerged as the largest buyer of Russian offshore crude oil at discounted rates. Since then, India has purchased crude oil from Russia worth 144 billion euros. During this period, China has become the largest buyer of crude oil from Russia, importing 210.3 billion euros worth of oil. India is in second place. These purchases have sparked a strong reaction from Western countries, which have targeted Russia's energy sector with sanctions. They argue that oil revenues help fund Moscow's war efforts. Last year, the US doubled import duties on Indian goods to 50 percent as a penalty for heavy purchases of Russian oil.
On November 20, 2025, Reliance announced that it had stopped using Russian crude oil at its export-oriented refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, to comply with EU sanctions. Reliance was India's largest oil buyer from Russia. It used to refine crude oil into fuels such as petrol and diesel at its Jamnagar oil refining complex, which has two refineries.
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The company on Tuesday dismissed as completely false a report claiming that three ships carrying Russian oil were headed for Reliance's Jamnagar refinery. The report claimed that at least three tankers carrying around 2.2 million barrels of Urals (a grade of Russian crude oil) were headed to Sikka port, through which the Jamnagar refining complex receives a major portion of its crude oil imports.
