'Blatantly untrue': RIL denies reports of Russian crude oil shipments to Jamnagar refinery

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has rejected reports alleging that three vessels carrying Russian crude oil are on their way to the company’s Jamnagar refinery. RIL stated that it has not received any such cargoes in recent weeks and does not expect Russian crude oil deliveries in January.

The denial comes after a Bloomberg report suggested that the refinery was set to receive shipments of Urals crude from Russia this month.

On social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Reliance Industries described the claims as "blatantly untrue". The company further emphasised that its Jamnagar refinery has neither received any Russian oil cargo for around three weeks nor is expecting one in January.

A Reliance spokesperson reiterated to Bloomberg that the refinery is not anticipating Russian crude deliveries this month and has not purchased any for January.

Reliance Industries expressed frustration with the report, stating, "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," highlighting their objection to the coverage.

The Bloomberg report in question cited data from analytics firm Kpler, which tracks tanker movements using live signals from vessel captains. The cargoes, according to the report, were marked as supplied by traders Alghaf Marine DMCC, Redwood Global Supply FZ LLC, RusExport and Ethos Energy.

Among the cited suppliers, Alghaf Marine and Redwood Global have been sanctioned by the UK. Alghaf Marine is the successor to the Middle Eastern arm of Litasco, a trading unit of Lukoil sanctioned by the United States.

In November 2025, RIL announced it would cease using Russian crude at the export-focused segment of its Jamnagar refinery. From January to November last year, Russian oil accounted for 40% of the refinery’s imports, as mentioned in the report.

The Bloomberg story noted that the tankers were filled with 2.2 million barrels of Urals crude and were possibly on route to Jamnagar, but also stated that the final destinations might change as the vessels neared India.