Reliance Industries announced on January 6 that it is expected not to receive any oil shipments from Russia in January 2026.
Reliance Industries' Jamnagar Refinery has not received any oil shipments from Russia in the past 3 weeks and is expected not to receive any crude oil shipments from Russia in January" - Reliance's statement stated.
This announcement also refuted a news report from last week that 3 Russian oil tankers were heading towards Reliance's Jamnagar refinery.
Reliance is the operator of the world's largest oil refinery complex and the largest Russian oil buyer in India last year.
The announcement that Russia is expected not to import oil in January was announced by Reliance after US President Donald Trump on January 4 warned that the US may continue to increase import tariffs on India due to oil purchases from Russia.
India is the country that increased its purchase of Russian crude oil transported by sea, with oil prices falling sharply since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in 2022.
Western countries reacted strongly to this development. The US has doubled import tariffs on Indian goods to 50% in 2025 in response to India's large purchase of Russian oil. The two countries are currently negotiating a trade agreement.
Indian officials have asked refineries to disclose weekly information about buying oil from Russia and the US, according to many sources familiar with the matter. Accordingly, Russian oil imports into India are likely to decrease to below 1 million barrels/day as New Delhi seeks to reach a trade agreement with Washington.
More stringent sanctions by the US and the EU have slowed down Russia's oil flow to India, falling to its lowest level in 3 years, at about 1.2 million barrels per day in December 2025, according to sources and analysis company Kpler. This figure marks a decrease of about 40% compared to the peak of about 2 million barrels per day in June 2025.
With Reliance stopping purchasing oil from Russia in January, Russian oil flows to Nayara Energy and Indian-owned oil refineries such as Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum are likely to also be restricted.
Nayara Energy, a company operating an oil refinery with a capacity of 400,000 barrels/day, is likely to be the main customer in India buying Russian oil because its supply is limited by EU sanctions after other suppliers withdrew.
