By Mohi Narayan
NEW DELHI Reliance Industries Ltd., operator of the world’s largest refinery complex, may avoid buying Russian fuel for its facilities after Western sanctions were imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, a senior company official has said.
“Even if we can get some of the feed [from Russia]probably we’ll be out because of the sanctions,” senior vice president and business head Cracker Rajesh Rawat said at an industry event on March 16.
Reliance buys Ural crude and straight-run fuel oil for its refineries from Russia. The private refinery buys its petrochemical raw materials mainly from the Middle East and the United States.
Sanctions against Russia have caused many companies and countries to shun its oil, pushing Russian crude prices to record levels.
Mr Rawat said that in India, most oil supplies from Russia go to state-owned companies.
“So likely these feed streams will continue or have a smaller impact compared to the private sector players. Because we deal with banks and also if we can get some of the feeds [from Russia]we probably won’t be there because of the sanctions,” said Mr. Rawat at the Asia Refining and Petrochemical Summit.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, the country’s top refiner, Indian Oil Corp., has bought 3 million barrels of Russian Ural crude and Hindustan Petroleum has bought 2 million barrels of the oil through tenders.
