Reliance Industries, which runs the world’s largest refinery, made it clear on Tuesday that it is not taking any consignment of crude oil from Russia in the month of January. This decision has come at a time when discussions are heated at the global level regarding India’s oil purchases. Due to this move of Reliance, there are speculations that India’s Russian oil imports may reach the lowest level in the last several years in January.
Reliance issued a statement on social media platform ‘X’ and also refuted media reports which claimed that three ships loaded with Russian oil were headed towards Jamnagar Refinery. The company has said in clear words that no cargo of Russian oil has arrived at its Jamnagar refinery in the last three weeks nor is any delivery expected this entire month.
Statement by Reliance Industries Limited:
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’s Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of
— Reliance Industries Limited (@RIL_Updates) January 5, 2026
Effect of Trump’s warning
Recently, US President Donald Trump had warned everyone that if the purchase of Russian oil continued, the import tariff on goods could be further increased. America has already increased the tariff on Indian goods to 50% as punishment.
A trade deal is currently under negotiation between India and America. In such a situation, it is believed that Indian refiners are changing their strategy to reduce American resentment and get this deal back on track. Experts say that New Delhi is trying to bring down the purchase of Russian oil below 1 million barrels per day to improve relations with Washington.
Oil imports may be reduced by half
After the Ukraine war started in the year 2022, India started buying Russian oil at a huge discount, due to which the western countries were angry. But now the situation is changing. Strict American and European sanctions have slowed down the supply of oil. Statistics show that in December itself, Russian oil imports had fallen to 12 lakh barrels per day, which is the lowest level in three years. This is about 40% less than the June peak (20 lakh barrels). Now that a big company like Reliance has pulled out, this figure is likely to fall further in January.
Who will buy Russian oil now?
Following Reliance’s exit, deliveries of Russian oil are now likely to be limited mainly to Nayara Energy and state-run refinery companies such as Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL). Nayara Energy has few options as other suppliers have given up due to fear of European sanctions. Although these government companies have not yet made any official comment on this issue, it is certain that India’s oil purchasing pattern is about to change.
Also read- Reliance breaks rumors: Company’s big statement on Russian oil supply