Amid US pressure, India's Reliance says it expects no Russian crude deliveries in January
This comes a day after United States President Donald Trump issued fresh warning to India to cut its imports of Russian oil or face further hike in tariffs.
A guard walks past the Reliance Industries logo near the entrance of Dhirubhai Ambani Knowledge City in Navi Mumbai, March 15, 2024. REUTERS/Francis Mascarenhas/File Photo
NEW DELHI: India's private refiner Reliance Industries said on Tuesday (Jan 6) it is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January and has not received such cargoes in the past three weeks.
Reliance, which used to be India's largest buyer of Russian oil, published a statement on X denying a Bloomberg report based on Kpler data that three vessels laden with Russian oil are heading to its Jamnagar refinery.
India emerged as the biggest buyer of discounted Russian seaborne crude following the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.
The purchases have fuelled a backlash from Western nations, which have targeted Russia's energy sector with sanctions, arguing that oil revenues help fund Moscow's war effort.
With Reliance halting Russian crude purchases, India's oil imports from Russia are set to fall further in January, with China the only major outlet for Moscow.
Indian authorities asked refiners for weekly disclosures of Russian and United States oil purchases, people familiar with the matter said, Reuters reported last week.
The sources said they expect Russian crude imports to dip below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) as New Delhi seeks to clinch a trade deal with Washington.
Stricter US and European Union sanctions have already slowed Russian oil flows to India, which fell to a three-year low of about 1.2 million bpd in December, according to sources and analytics firm Kpler. That marks a roughly 40 per cent drop from a June peak of around 2 million bpd.
Reliance - one of the largest conglomerates in India - had come into the spotlight for importing oil from Russia.
Delhi's import of Russian oil had become a major sore point in relations between India and US, which resulted in the latter imposing 50 per cent tariffs on imports last year. This is one of the highest tariffs imposed by the US on a country.
US President Donald Trump on Monday issued a fresh warning that if India doesn't reduce Russian crude oil imports, it could face higher tariffs.
After the pressure from the US, Reliance had reduced its orders from Russian companies by 13 per cent in October 2025, according to a report by think tank Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
