Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has strongly rejected a media report claiming that Russian oil cargoes were being received at its Jamnagar refinery, calling such reports "blatantly untrue" and "tarnishing our image." Referring to a report by Bloomberg, the company clarified that it has not received any shipments of Russian crude oil over the past three weeks. RIL further stated that it is not expecting any deliveries of Russian crude in January either.
Reliance Industries statement
In a statement, Reliance Industries said, "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' Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of Russian oil at its refinery in the past three weeks approx. and is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January."
"We are deeply pained that those claiming to be at the forefront of fair journalism chose to ignore the denial by RIL of buying any Russian oil to be delivered in January and published a wrong report tarnishing our image," it added.
US sanctions on Russian oil firms
The statement by Reliance comes amid the US imposing tariffs on the import of Indian goods as a "penalty" for India buying Russian oil.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has once again issued a strong warning to India, stating that Washington could raise tariffs on Indian goods "very quickly" if New Delhi's energy and trade policies do not align with American expectations. The remarks were revealed in an audio clip released by the White House, where Trump directly linked India's decisions on Russian oil to his personal dissatisfaction.
In the audio, Trump claimed that India adjusted its approach to keep him satisfied. "They wanted to make me happy, basically," he said. Speaking about Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump added, "Modi's a very good man. He's a good guy. He knew I was not happy. And it was important to make me happy." He also issued a pointed warning about trade consequences, stating, "They do trade. And we can raise tariffs on them very quickly, and it would be very bad for them."
The controversy comes amid renewed global focus on oil geopolitics, including recent US actions against Venezuela, while India has consistently defended its energy imports as necessary for domestic energy security.
What did the Bloomberg report claim?
According to Bloomberg, at least three tankers carrying Russian crude are indicating Reliance Industries Ltd.’s plant on India’s west coast as their next destination, after the refiner restarted some purchases for domestic production.
The report added that the vessels, loaded with nearly 2.2 million barrels of Urals crude, were signaling the Jamnagar complex and were expected to deliver their cargo early this month, based on Kpler data.
Bloomberg also said that after initially stepping back following the US decision to blacklist Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC, Reliance announced in November that it would stop using Russian crude at the export-focused section of its refinery.
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