At least three tankers carrying Russian crude oil are indicating Reliance Industries Ltd.’s Jamnagar refinery complex on India’s west coast as their next destination, suggesting the refiner has resumed limited purchases of Russian barrels for domestic production.
The vessels, laden with a combined 2.2 million barrels of Urals crude, are currently signaling Jamnagar as their discharge port and are expected to arrive early this month, according to vessel-tracking data from analytics firm Kpler. The data is based on live signals transmitted by ship captains and may change as vessels approach Indian waters.
A Reliance Industries spokesperson denied that the cargoes had been purchased by the company, stating that Reliance has no committed shipments of Russian crude scheduled for delivery in January.
Reliance had scaled back Russian crude intake after the US imposed sanctions on Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC. In November, however, the company announced it would stop using Russian oil at the export-oriented section of its Jamnagar refinery, while continuing to source crude from non-sanctioned Russian producers for domestic consumption. Rosneft was previously Reliance’s largest Russian supplier under a term contract for up to 500,000 barrels per day.
India has emerged as a key destination for Russian oil in recent years but has faced increased scrutiny from US President Donald Trump and senior members of his administration over continued trade with Moscow. The uncertainty has prompted Indian refiners to reduce purchases, with imports of Russian crude falling to their lowest level in three years last month.
Controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, Reliance was the world’s largest buyer of Russian crude for much of 2024 and 2025, according to Kpler data.
The latest cargoes are marked as having been supplied by trading firms Alghaf Marine DMCC, Redwood Global Supply FZ LLC, RusExport and Ethos Energy. Alghaf Marine and Redwood Global have been sanctioned by the UK. Alghaf Marine is the successor to the Middle East trading arm of Litasco, the trading subsidiary of Lukoil.
Russian crude accounted for over 40% of Jamnagar’s total imports during the January–November period last year.
Reliance is not alone in resuming purchases. State-owned refiners Indian Oil Corp. and Bharat Petroleum Corp. are also lifting Russian cargoes from non-sanctioned sellers, attracted by deep discounts, weak refining margins and uncertainty surrounding trade negotiations with Washington.
