New Delhi

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), operator of the world’s largest single-site oil refining complex, on Tuesday said it has not received any Russian crude oil cargoes in nearly three weeks and does not expect any deliveries in January.

The clarification came after a media report claimed that vessels carrying Russian crude were headed to Reliance’s Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat.

Calling the report “blatantly untrue”, Reliance said in a statement, “Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of Russian oil at its refinery in the past three weeks approximately and is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January.”

Earlier, on November 20, 2025, the company had announced that it had halted the processing of Russian crude at its export-oriented SEZ refinery at Jamnagar to comply with European Union sanctions.

Reliance operates two refineries at Jamnagar — an SEZ unit that exports fuels to markets such as the European Union and the United States, and an older refinery that primarily caters to the domestic market.

The EU, a key market for Reliance, has imposed extensive sanctions aimed at curbing Russia’s energy revenues, including restrictions on the import and sale of fuels produced from Russian crude oil. To comply with these measures, Reliance stopped using Russian crude at its export-only refinery.

A Bloomberg report, citing data from analytics firm Kpler, had claimed that three tankers carrying around 2.2 million barrels of Russia’s Urals crude were en route to the Sikka port, which serves the Jamnagar complex.

Industry sources, however, said the cargoes were likely meant for Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd’s Bina refinery and not for Reliance, noting that Sikka port is also used by other oil companies.

Reliance was until recently India’s largest buyer of discounted Russian crude, purchasing about half of the 1.7–1.8 million barrels per day shipped to India following the Ukraine war in 2022.

India emerged as the second-largest buyer of Russian seaborne crude after the conflict began, drawing criticism from Western nations that have imposed sanctions on Moscow’s energy sector.

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On Sunday, US President Donald Trump warned that Washington could raise tariffs on India if it does not curb purchases of Russian oil.