Reliance Industries says not expecting any Russian cargo in January, calls report 'blatantly untrue'

Reliance Industries Ltd

. has strongly denied reports suggesting that Russian oil cargoes are headed to its Jamnagar refinery, calling such claims "blatantly untrue" and saying they have tarnished the company's image.

In a statement posted on X on Tuesday, Reliance referred to a Bloomberg News report that claimed three vessels carrying Russian crude were bound for its Jamnagar refinery.

The company said it has not received any Russian oil cargoes over the past three weeks and is not expecting any deliveries of Russian crude in January.

Reliance also expressed disappointment that its denial was allegedly ignored during the publication of the report.

"A news report in Bloomberg claiming that 'three vessels laden with Russian oil are heading for Reliance Industries Limited's Jamnagar refinery' is blatantly untrue. Reliance Industries' Jamnagar refinery has not received any cargo of Russian oil in the past three weeks approximately and is not expecting any Russian crude oil deliveries in January," the company said in its post.

Adding that the report had caused reputational damage, Reliance said it was "deeply pained" that what it described as a clear denial was overlooked, resulting in a report that it believes tarnished the company's image.

The Bloomberg report said shipping data indicated the movement of Russian crude towards India's west coast. It added that at least three tankers carrying nearly 2.2 million barrels of Urals crude were signalling Jamnagar as their next destination, citing data from analytics firm Kpler.

Bloomberg said that a Reliance spokesperson had denied purchasing the cargoes, adding that the company had no committed shipments of Russian crude for delivery in January.

The report also explained that vessel destinations tracked by Kpler are based on live signals from ships and can change as tankers approach Indian ports.

Reliance's statement comes at a time when the US has imposed tariffs on imports of Indian goods, describing them as a penalty linked to India's purchases of Russian oil.