Reuters. Indian refiners are poised to sharply curtail imports of Russian oil to comply with new U.S. sanctions on two top Russian producers, industry sources said on Thursday (23 October), potentially removing a major hurdle to a trade deal with the United States.
The change comes as India faces punishing 50% tariffs on its exports to the U.S. - with half of those duties in retaliation for Russian oil purchases - and negotiates a potential trade deal that could bring those tariffs in line with Asian peers in exchange for winding down crude imports from Moscow.
India has emerged as the biggest buyer of discounted seaborne Russian crude in the aftermath of Moscow's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, importing about 1.7 million barrels per day in the first nine months of this year.
The U.S. sanctions target Lukoil LKOH.MM and Rosneft ROSN.MM, Russia's two biggest oil producers.
Privately-owned Reliance Industries RELI.NS, the top Indian buyer of Russian crude, plans to reduce or cease imports of Russian oil, including halting purchases under its large long-term deal with Rosneft, people familiar with the matter said.
The move comes as the U.S. imposed sanctions on Thursday (October 23) on Rosneft and Lukoil, another major Russian supplier, over the Ukraine war
"Recalibration of Russian oil imports is ongoing and Reliance will be fully aligned to GOI (Government of India) guidelines," a Reliance spokesman said in response to a query on whether the company plans to cut its crude imports from Russia.
Reliance, which is controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani and operates the world's biggest refining complex at Jamnagar in western Gujarat state, has a long-term deal to buy nearly 500,000 bpd (barrels per day) of crude oil from Rosneft. The refiner also buys Russian oil from intermediaries.
