Reliance Industries to buy up to 150,000 bpd of Russian oil from February

India's Reliance Industries Ltd, ‍operator of the world's largest refining complex, will purchase up to 150,000 ⁠barrels per day of Russian oil starting February for its refinery geared toward domestic needs, according to a company executive on Thursday. Reuters reported earlier this month that Reliance ‌was poised ‌to take delivery of sanctions-approved Russian oil in February and March following a one-month break. The firm last imported Russian crude in December, thanks to a one-month U.S. extension that permitted ending transactions with Rosneft after the November 21 cutoff.

India's Reliance Industries Ltd, ‍operator of the world's largest refining complex, will purchase up to 150,000 ⁠barrels per day of Russian oil starting February for its refinery geared toward domestic needs, according to a company executive on Thursday. Reuters reported earlier this month that Reliance ‌was poised ‌to take delivery of sanctions-approved Russian oil in February and March following a one-month break. Reliance last imported Russian crude in December, thanks to a one-month U.S. extension that permitted ending transactions with Rosneft after the November 21 cutoff.

The U.S. slapped sanctions on Rosneft and peer Russian oil major Lukoil in October, yet unsanctioned Russian firms and trading middlemen have kept supplying.

Reliance ‍aims to secure up to 150,000 barrels per day ‍of Russian oil from February via sellers free of sanctions, the executive noted during India Energy Week, speaking anonymously per company protocol. He withheld seller identities, and Reliance offered no immediate reply to Reuters' inquiry.

Reliance previously sourced Russian crude via a long-term deal with Rosneft for 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) destined for its 1.4 million-bpd Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat ‍state.

The conglomerate ⁠also sources oil ⁠from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and others through long-term contracts to feed the Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat, while buying Canadian crude too. Reliance is pursuing U.S. clearance to restart Venezuelan crude imports, per Reuters' earlier report this month, as the refiner shifts from top Russian suppliers to lock in alternatives.