Reliance Industries shares gain over 2% today; here's the trigger

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) shares climbed over 2% in Friday’s session, rising possibly on a wave of market optimism after the US Treasury Department granted a crucial 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to buy Russian oil.

The conglomerate Reliance stock surged as much as 2.46%, to hit a day’s of Rs 1424.10 on the BSE, above its previous close of Rs 1389.80. The counter has gained nearly 6% over the past two sessions.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the temporary waiver on X  on March 6, emphasising that the move aims to keep global energy markets stable amid ongoing tensions.

"President Trump’s energy agenda has resulted in oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded," Bessent wrote. "To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil."

He also noted that the waiver only covers oil currently stranded at sea, adding that it "will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government."

According to earlier news reports, the Mukesh Ambani-led giant Reliance was touted as the world's largest buyer of seaborne Russian crude in 2025, taking in roughly 600,000 barrels per day. However, reports also said that the company halted its Russian oil purchases during the first three weeks of January.
 

According to a note by JM Financial dated March 4, the recent dip in RIL's share price—which corrected by 8% over the past month due to Middle East tensions, was heavily overdone. The brokerage highlights that rather than taking a hit from crude and LNG price spikes, Reliance actually stands to gain.

“For RIL’s refinery is a high 40-50%; assuming diesel crack sustains at ~USD30/bbl, RIL’s GRM could rise by USD 4-5/bbl. Every USD 1/bbl rise in RIL’s GRM on an annualised basis results in an increase in its annual EBITDA by INR 45bn or 2.2% and increase in valuation by INR 29/share of 1.7%, JM Financial said.

According to Reliance's Q3 FY26 investor presentation, the company recently reported a 14.6% year-on-year jump in its Oil-to-Chemicals (O2C) EBITDA, clocking in at Rs 16,507 crore. The presentation attributed this growth to multi-quarter high refining margins, with fuel cracks surging between 60% and 100%.

The company also noted in the presentation that their "agile crude sourcing helped sustain throughput despite challenges".