New Delhi: India’s Reliance Industries Ltd continues to receive oil cargoes supplied by Rosneft after obtaining a one-month concession from Washington, which had imposed sanctions on the Russian producer, two sources familiar with the matter said.
The special permission for Reliance has not been reported previously. In October, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Rosneft, opens new tab and Lukoil, giving companies until November 21 to wind down transactions with the two energy firms.
Reliance has a long-term deal with Rosneft to buy 500,000 barrels per day of Russian oil for its 1.4 million bpd refining complex, the world’s largest. Separately, the EU has said that from January 21, it will not take fuel produced at refineries that received or processed Russian oil 60 days prior to the bill-of-lading date.
Cargoes from ‘Pre-existing transactions,’ says Reliance
Since November 22, Reliance has received around 15 cargoes of Russian oil from Rosneft, according to trade flows data from Kpler.
“These are pre-existing transactions which are being wound down in a sanctions-compliant manner,” Reliance said in an emailed response. The U.S. Treasury declined to comment on the concession.
Reliance has said it loaded the final cargo under its Rosneft deal on November 12, and would process Russian oil arriving after November 20 at its India-focused 660,000 bpd plant, enabling it to continue fuel sales to the EU from its 704,000 bpd export-focused refinery.
Reliance is 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 biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, but has come under pressure from Washington to curb those imports.
Its Russian oil imports in December are likely to average 1.2-1.5 million bpd, trade sources said and LSEG trade flows show, down from 1.77 million bpd in November.
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