In Washington’s crosshairs: Indian giant Reliance turns back oil tankers from Russia
6 January 18:22
India’s largest industrial holding company, Reliance Industries, said it does not expect Russian crude oil deliveries in January and has not received such cargoes for the past three weeks. This could be the sharpest reduction in Russian oil imports by India in recent years. This was reported by Reuters, according to "Komersant Ukrainian".
What is known
The company said that its Jamnagar refinery, the world’s largest in terms of capacity, has temporarily stopped accepting Russian crude. Reliance was a key private buyer of Russian oil in India after 2022, so this pause is of systemic importance to the market.
India became the largest buyer of Russian oil at a discount after the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine. According to Western estimates, the proceeds from these sales help Moscow finance the war, which became the basis for sanctions against the Russian energy sector.
The role of the United States and trade pressure
Reliance’s announcement came amid a warning from US President Donald Trump about a possible further increase in duties on Indian goods due to purchases of Russian oil. Last year, Washington already doubled import tariffs for India to 50%. At the same time, the countries are negotiating a potential trade agreement, and the energy issue has become one of the key ones.
In early January, Bloomberg reported that at least three tankers with Russian oil were allegedly heading to the Reliance refinery. However, the company itself denies this information, which indicates instability and lack of transparency in the market under sanctions pressure.
Reliance is not the only player in the Indian market
The state-owned Indian Oil Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp continue to purchase Russian oil from sellers not subject to sanctions, enjoying significant discounts. At the same time, the Indian government has already obliged oil refiners to regularly disclose information on purchases of Russian and American crude.
