Reliance Industries has halted importing Russian crude oil for its export-only refinery from November 20. Exports from the RIL refinery will use non-Russian oil starting December 1.
Published: November 22, 2025 11:39 AM IST
US PRESSURE or something else: Why Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance has halted Russian oil imports for its…?
Reliance Halts Russian Oil Imports: In a major development, Reliance Industries has halted imports of crude oil from Russia for its only-for-export refinery, which is located in Gujarat’s Jamnagar. The decision has been taken as India’s biggest oil refiner acts to follow EU sanctions. Reliance said that, starting December 1, all exports from the refinery will use only non-Russian oil.
Why Reliance Halted Russian Oil Imports
Notably, European Union has imposed several sanctions that targets Moscow’s energy revenue. The sanctions include restricting the import and sale of fuels produced by Russian crude oil. To safeguard itself from these sanctions, the Mukesh Ambani company has stopped importing Russian oil for its only-for-exports (SEZ) refinery. Notably, Europe is also a big market for Reliance.
“We have stopped importing Russian crude oil into our SEZ refinery with effect from November 20,” a spokesperson of Reliance said in a statement.
Reliance – The Top Indian Buyer Of Russian Crude
It is to be noted that Reliance is the top Indian buyer of Russian crude. It also buys Russian oil from the spot market to process it in the refining complex which is located in Jamnagar. The complex has the capacity to process 1.4 million bpd of oil.
The Jamnagar refinery complex has two refineries – the SEZ unit from which the process fuels are exported to European countries, US and other international markets. The older unit fulfils the needs of the domestic market.
The RIL spokesperson told The New York Times that his company had ‘an impeccable record’ of adhering to sanctions and will follow the new rules.
Notably, the refinery of the RIL has storage of crude oil, which was imported from Russia. The refinery is processing the crude oil and turning it into fuels. Once the stored Russian crude oil runs out, the company will produce new products from non-Russian oil.
Product-Import Restrictions To Come Into Force From January 2026
“All pre-committed liftings of Russian crude oil as of October 22, 2025, are being honoured, considering all transport arrangements were already in place,” the company said, adding that the final such cargo was loaded on November 12. “Any (Russian) cargoes arriving on or after November 20 will be received and processed at our refinery in the domestic tariff area (DTA),” the statement read.
“All operational activities ordinarily incident to such oil supply transactions can be completed, we believe, in a compliant way,” the company said.
In October, US President Donald Trump announced to impose Ukraine-related sanctions on Moscow. This targeted two oil companies – Lukoil and Rosneft.
Notably, RIL inked a long-term deal with Russian Rosneft to buy 500,000 bpd crude oil.
Earlier in October, sources told Reuters that Reliance would stop importing crude oil from Rosneft, after it was sanctioned by the United States.