Reliance Ends “Russian Freeze”: 150,000 BPD Deal Reboots Crude Flow for February
India is having an event called India Energy Week. At this event Reliance Industries, which is a company said they are going back to buying oil from Russia. They want to buy up to 150,000 barrels of oil every day. They will start doing this in February.
Reliance Industries stopped buying oil for a little while in January. This was because the United States and the European Union were making rules that would make it hard for them to buy oil. Reliance Industries has a big place where they turn oil into other things and they did not get any Russian oil in January. Now they are going to start buying oil again which is a big deal, for Reliance Industries and the Russian oil market.
The announcement is a direction for Mukesh Ambanis company. This direction is a ground for Mukesh Ambanis company as it deals with the problems, between countries in 2026. Mukesh Ambanis company is trying to find a way to do business in a changing world.
The “Two-Refinery” Compliance Strategy
The main reason we are seeing less oil being used now is that the European Union stopped allowing fuel made from crude oil on January 21 2026. This is a change from 2025 when we were using around 600,000 barrels of oil per day. To keep making a lot of money from selling oil Reliance has come up with a plan to protect itself. Reliance is doing this because Reliance wants to keep its export revenue high. The plan that Reliance has devised is like a firewall strategy, for Reliance.
The Domestic Unit is very important. It will get 150,000 barrels of oil every day. This oil will go to the refinery that makes fuel for people in India. This refinery can handle 660,000 barrels of oil every day. The Russian oil is cheaper so the people at RIL can use it to make fuel that costs less. This means that fuel prices in India will stay competitive. The 150,000 barrels of oil, per day will help RIL do this.
The Export Unit has a refinery that can make 704,000 barrels of oil per day. This refinery is for exporting oil. It will not use oil from Russia. Instead it will get oil from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the United States. The Export Unit wants to make sure that all the petrol and diesel it sends to Europe comes from sources. This means the Export Unit has to follow the rules made by Brussels about where the oil comes from. The Export Unit will make sure every single drop of petrol and diesel it ships to Europe is okay. The oil has to be, from an origin. The Export Unit is doing this so it can follow the rules and keep the Export Unit refinery free of Russian oil.
Navigating the “Trump Tariff” Pressure
The deal comes after the United States government put a lot of pressure on India. United States President Donald Trump increased taxes on Indian products in late 2025 because India was trading oil with Russia. This was like a punishment. Now Reliance is changing the way it buys things. Of making direct deals with big Russian companies like Rosneft or Lukoil that the United States government does not approve of Reliance is now buying from a list of companies that the United States government says are okay to do business with. Reliance is working with these companies that are not sanctioned and with trading houses that follow the rules about sanctions. Reliance is doing this to avoid problems, with the United States government.
“We are moving from a strategy of ‘volume at any cost’ to ‘compliance at any cost,'” noted a company executive. “The 150k bpd volume is the ‘Goldilocks’ amount it keeps the domestic fires burning without making Jamnagar a primary target for the next round of secondary sanctions.”
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