Reliance Industries Ltd, India’s largest purchaser of discounted Russian crude, has completely stopped processing Russian oil at its Special Economic Zone (SEZ) refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, effective November 20, 2025, to ensure full compliance with impending European Union sanctions on refined products derived from Russian feedstock.
The Jamnagar complex, the world’s largest single-location refining hub, operates two distinct units: an SEZ refinery dedicated exclusively to producing fuels for export markets including the European Union and the United States, and a separate domestic tariff area (DTA) unit that supplies India’s internal market. Only the export-oriented SEZ unit has ceased using Russian crude.
A company spokesperson confirmed that existing inventories of Russian crude are being processed until depleted, after which all fuels exported from the SEZ refinery from December 1, 2025, onward will be manufactured solely from non-Russian origin crude, well ahead of the EU’s January 2026 deadline banning imports of refined products processed from Russian oil.
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The decision follows intensifying Western sanctions, including recent U.S. measures against Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil producers, and the European Union’s 18th sanctions package that progressively restricts energy revenue streams funding Moscow’s military operations. Reliance stated that all pre-committed Russian crude cargoes contracted before October 22, 2025, have been honoured, with the final such cargo loaded on November 12.
With substantial business interests in the United States and Europe, Reliance has rapidly recalibrated its supply chain, redirecting any new Russian crude arrivals from November 20 onward to its domestic refinery while accelerating procurement from alternative regions to protect multibillion-dollar export contracts and avoid secondary sanctions exposure.
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