By Jeslyn Lerh and Mohi Narayan
SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -Reliance Industries, India’s biggest buyer of Russian oil, has in recent weeks made rare fuel oil purchases from state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp, seven industry sources said.
The purchases suggest the operator of the world’s largest refining complex is diversifying its fuel oil sources as India comes under heavy pressure from Washington over its energy ties with Russia.
Reliance and HPCL did not respond to emails seeking comments.
Reliance has in recent years snapped up cheap supplies of Russian crude and fuel oil, which have been sold at a discount after Western entities shunned purchases and imposed sanctions against Moscow since the Ukraine war.
However U.S. President Donald Trump, who announced 25% import tariffs on Indian goods last month, has threatened further levies if India continues to buy Russian oil.
Reliance bought two cargoes of high-sulphur fuel oil (HSFO) from HPCL via tenders that closed in late July to early August, the sources said.
The cargoes, of 33,000 metric tons or 209,550 barrels each, are scheduled for loading on August 23-25 and September 8-10 from Visakhapatnam Port, they added. The sources declined to be named as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
Reliance typically buys most of its fuel oil from Russia for processing at its coker into higher-value products.
This month, Russian fuel oil exports to India are expected to drop below 400,000 tons from above 750,000 tons in July, data from shipping analytics firm Kpler showed. Almost all of the cargoes are imported by Reliance, the data showed.
“It’s a recent phenomenon (for Reliance) to diversify their slate with cheaper residue barrels,” a source familiar with India refinery operations said.
Indian state refiners are awaiting clarity from the government on whether to continue importing Russian oil, while Reliance is likely to switch back to Middle Eastern oil if Russian oil is no longer an option, traders have said.
Reliance’s refining complex at Jamnagar in western India can process about 1.4 million barrels per day of crude.
(Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh in Singapore, Mohi Narayan and Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Florence Tan and Jan Harvey)
