Reliance Industries, India’s largest company and the country’s biggest private refiner, vehemently denied a Bloomberg report that used kpler data and said three shiploads of Russian crude oil were headed to the company’s Jamnagar-based refinery.
Reliance, which is owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani and used to be India’s largest buyer of Russian oil, said it had not received any shipment in the past three weeks, and neither is it expecting any deliveries in January.
Posting a statement on X, Reliance Industries said: “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’ 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.
“We are deeply pained that those claiming to be at the forefront of fair journalism chose to ignore the denial by RIL of buying any Russian oil to be delivered in January and published a wrong report tarnishing our image.”
Indian refiner rejects Russian oil report
The Bloomberg report did carry a Reliance spokesperson’s statement denying that the cargo had been purchased by the company.
The Bloomberg report, citing data from analytics firm kpler, had claimed that the three tankers were carrying about 2.2 million barrels of Russia’s Urals crude were signaling Jamnagar complex as their next destination. The report noted that shipping destinations can change as vessels approach their discharge ports.
In October, the United States imposed sweeping sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, two of Russia’s largest oil companies, and Reuters had quoted a Reliance spokesperson as saying: “Recalibration of Russian oil imports is ongoing and Reliance will be fully aligned to Government of India guidelines on the extent of recalibration.”
India emerged as the biggest buyer of discounted Russian seaborne crude following the start of the Ukraine war in 2022 and Reliance accounted for about half of India’s 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) imports from Moscow before the pullback.
A Reuters report, quoting people familiar with the matter, said Indian authorities asked refiners for weekly disclosures of Russian and US oil purchases. The sources said they expect Russian crude imports to dip below 1 million barrels per day as New Delhi seeks to clinch a trade deal with Washington.
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