Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on January 6 strongly denied reports claiming that Russian crude oil shipments were headed to its Jamnagar refinery, calling such claims “blatantly untrue” and damaging to the company’s reputation.
In a statement posted on X, the Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate refuted a Bloomberg News report which alleged that three vessels carrying Russian oil were bound for Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery. RIL clarified that it has not received any Russian oil cargoes over the past three weeks and does not expect any Russian crude deliveries during January.
“A news report in Bloomberg claiming ‘three vessels laden with Russian oil are heading for Reliance Industries Limited’s Jamnagar refinery’ is blatantly untrue,” the company said. “Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of Russian oil in the past three weeks approximately and is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January.”
Reliance also expressed disappointment that its denial was allegedly overlooked prior to publication. “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,” the company added.
The Bloomberg report, titled ‘Ships with Russian oil signal Reliance Plant as Destination’, had cited shipping data suggesting Russian crude movements towards India’s west coast. The report also noted that a Reliance spokesperson had denied purchasing the cargoes, stating that the company had no committed Russian crude shipments for delivery in January.
Reliance’s clarification underscores its position amid heightened scrutiny of global crude trade flows and sourcing patterns.