Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has obtained a concession from the United States to receive oil cargoes supplied by Russia’s Rosneft, which has been sanctioned by the US government. The company said it has been granted permission to import cargoes that were contracted before the sanctions were announced. The cargoes came in December before the extended deadline.
In October, the US imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, allowing companies until November 21 to wind down transactions with the two Russian energy firms. Reliance has a long-term agreement with Rosneft to purchase about 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude for its 1.4 million bpd refining complex in Jamnagar, the world’s largest.
“We have received permission to bring in cargoes that were contracted before the sanctions were announced. This is not for new cargoes but for older cargoes,” said the RIL spokesperson.
Separately, the European Union has said that from January 21 it will not accept fuel produced at refineries that received or processed Russian crude within 60 days prior to the bill-of-lading date.
According to an agency report citing trade flows data from Kpler, Reliance has received around 15 cargoes of Russian crude from Rosneft since November 22. The report added that Reliance loaded the final cargo under its Rosneft supply deal on November 12. Any Russian oil arriving after November 20 will be processed at Reliance’s India-focused 660,000 bpd refinery, allowing the company to continue fuel exports to the EU from its 704,000 bpd export-oriented refinery.
Reliance is also scheduled to receive one cargo each of Russian oil in December and January from trader RusExport, according to Kpler data.
India became the world’s largest buyer of seaborne Russian crude following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but has faced increasing pressure from Washington to curb such imports. India’s Russian oil imports in December are expected to average between 1.2 million and 1.5 million bpd, according to trade sources and LSEG data, down from about 1.77 million bpd in November.