Reliance Industries Ltd , the top Indian buyer of Russian oil, plans to adjust crude imports from Moscow to align with guidelines from the Indian government, a company spokesman said on Thursday, after the U.S. and Europe ramped up sanctions against Russia.
“Recalibration of Russian oil imports is ongoing and Reliance will be fully aligned to GOI (Government of India) guidelines on the extent of recalibration,” Reliance told Reuters in response to a query on whether the company plans to cut its crude imports from Russia.
Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd. were trading at ₹1,463.85 per scrip after a ₹1.30 decline as on 10:48 on Oct 23.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday imposed Ukraine-related sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term, targeting two oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft as his frustration grows with Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war.
Trump’s move came after EU countries approved a 19th package of sanctions on Moscow for its war against Ukraine. This also included a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports. Trump’s measures also followed Britain’s sanctioning last week of Rosneft and Lukoil.
Indian state refiners are reviewing their Russian oil trade documents to ensure that no supply will be coming directly from Rosneft and Lukoil after both companies were sanctioned by the United States, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.
“Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.”
Bessent told Fox Business Network that the action would be “one of the largest sanctions we’ve done against the Russian Federation.” “These are sanctions, not secondary tariffs,” said Bessent, who encouraged the Group of Seven wealthy nations and other allies to “come along with us.” He did not provide details on the sanctions.
So far, Trump relied on trade measures like tariff on Russia with sanctions as a major policy shift. Trump’s measure followed Britain’s sanctioning of Rosneft and Lukoil last week.
He earlier imposed an additional 25 per cent tariffs on goods from India in retaliation for its purchasing discounted Russian oil. However, US did not impose the tariffs on China, inspite of being another major buyer of Russian oil.
After Trump announced sanctions on Russia, oil prices jumped more than $2 a barrel with Brent crude futures extending gains after settlement, rising to about $64, as reported by Reuters.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday that he canceled a planned summit in Hungary with Putin because it didn’t feel like it was the right time. He added that he hopes the sanctions on Russian oil companies will not need to be in place for a long time. Last year, the US President said that he likes to remove sanctions quickly because of the risks to the dominance of the dollar in global transactions that the measures can bring.
