Russian oil tankers head to India again after pause

At least three tankers carrying Russian crude are indicating Reliance Industries Ltd's refinery on India's west coast as their next destination, after the refiner resumed some purchases for domestic production.

Source: Bloomberg

Details: According to analytics firm Kpler, the vessels – loaded with nearly 2.2 million barrels of Urals crude – are currently signalling the massive Jamnagar complex and are expected to deliver their cargoes in early January.

Destinations may change as the ships approach India.

A Reliance spokesperson said the company has no contractual obligations to receive Russian crude in January.

After initially stepping back from cooperation following US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, Reliance announced in November that it would stop using Russian crude at the export-oriented segment of its refinery.

Since then, the company has begun purchasing oil from Russian producers not subject to sanctions for domestic use.

Previously, Rosneft, Russia's state-run oil company, had been the largest supplier of Russian crude to the Reliance refinery under a long-term agreement for 500,000 barrels per day.

According to Kpler, Reliance – controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani – was the world's largest buyer of Russian oil for much of 2024–2025.

Kpler data show the cargoes are listed as supplied by traders Alghaf Marine DMCC, Redwood Global Supply FZ LLC, RusExport and Ethos Energy.

Alghaf Marine and Redwood Global have been sanctioned by the United Kingdom, with the former being a successor company to the Middle East arm of Litasco, the trading unit of Lukoil.

Russian crude deliveries to Reliance's Jamnagar refining complex accounted for more than 40% of the refinery's imports between January and November last year.

Background: Indian Oil Corp has purchased crude from Colombia for the first time under an optional contract with state-owned oil company Ecopetrol, as the Indian refiner seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian oil.

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