Amid ban on import of petroleum products from Russia by European Union (EU) and expiry of ‘wind down’ period of the United States, the Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has stopped the import of Russian crude oil.
RIL used to be the largest importer of Russian crude in the country and India’s largest exporter of fuel. It runs an export-oriented refinery in Jamnagar city of Gujarat.
In a statement, a Reliance Industries spokesperson informed, “We have stopped importing Russian crude oil into our SEZ refinery with effect from 20 November. From 1 December, all product exports from the SEZ (special economic zone) refinery will be obtained from non-Russian crude oil.”
“This transition has been completed ahead of schedule to ensure full compliance with product-import restrictions coming into force on 21 January 2026,” the spokesperson added.
It must be mentioned the European Union, which serves as a key market for RIL, had declared a blanket ban on petroleum product imports that are derived from Russian crude oil in 3rd countries.
“All pre-committed liftings of Russian crude oil as of 22 October 2025 are being honoured, considering all transport arrangements were already in place. The final such cargo was loaded on 12 November. Any cargoes arriving on or after 20 November will be received and processed at our refinery in the Domestic Tariff Area (DTA). All operational activities ordinarily incident to such oil supply transactions can be completed, we believe, in a compliant way,” the RIL emphasised.
RIL has stopped importing oil from Russia’s biggest oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil to avoid secondary sanctions from the United States, which had set 21st Novemeber as the deadline to ‘wind down’ dealings with the two companies.
