India will restrict crude oil purchases from Russia as part of an agreement reached with the US in exchange for lower trade tariffs, sources said, adding imports will continue for now by refiners such as Nayara Energy, which have no other alternative source. US President Donald Trump announced overnight that the United States will cut the reciprocal tariff on imports of Indian goods to 18 per cent from 25 per cent under a broader bilateral understanding.
Reliance Industries Ltd on Thursday said it has halted the use of Russian crude at its export-only refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, as the company moves to comply with European Union sanctions. Reliance is India's largest buyer of Russian oil, which it processes and turns into fuel, such as petrol and diesel, at its giant oil refining complex at Jamnagar.
Sanctioning Russian oil would have led to a sharp surge in oil prices to above $80 per barrel levels, which would impact pump prices in the US ahead of midterm elections next year.
The US Department of the Treasury on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an effort to pressure the Kremlin to end its war in Ukraine.
India has gained the least since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and was penalised the most, while the US, China and the European Union emerged as the biggest beneficiaries from the war.
Reliance Industries Ltd, India's largest buyer of Russian oil and most impacted by the latest US sanctions, on Friday said it will comply with all applicable restrictions and will adjust its refinery operations to meet compliance requirements.
India's exports to the US contracted 8.6 per cent to $6.3 billion in October, while imports rose 13.9 per cent to $4.5 billion leading to a trade surplus of $1.8 billion during the month.
From the Sensex firms, Infosys climbed 3.86 per cent. HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan and Tech Mahindra were also among the gainers. However, Eternal, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel and Adani Ports were among the laggards.
India is set to reduce its direct imports of Russian crude from late November, following new US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, effective November 21.
US sanctions against two of Russia's largest oil companies are expected to impact Reliance Industries' crude imports from Russia, while state-run refiners may continue purchases through intermediary traders for now.
Indian private sector and State-run refiners continued to receive crude oil from Russian suppliers even after November 21 -- the winding-down date for US sanctions on supplies from leading Russian oil producers imposed in October -- as new intermediaries sprung up in West Asia to sell the oil, according to senior refining sources and ship tracking data.
India offset the decline in exports to traditional destinations by sharply ramping up shipments to Jordan (18,086 per cent), Hong Kong (17,006 per cent), Spain (13,436 per cent), the Philippines (2,235 per cent), and Namibia (1,068 per cent) in H1FY26.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his address to the Federal Assembly (Russia's bicameral parliament) on Sunday, stated that Moscow had developed a small-sized nuclear power unit that could be used in a cruise missile to extend its range practically indefinitely.
The White House has claimed that India has begun 'scaling back' its oil purchases from Russia at the 'request' of President Donald Trump.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday described the latest United States sanctions as an 'unfriendly move' that would not help relations between Moscow and Washington, DC.
The US sees an opportunity to expand its strategic relationship with Pakistan but assures that it will not come at the expense of its ties with India, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
India does not do trade agreements in a hurry or with a "gun to our head", Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. He said India is actively negotiating trade pacts with countries and regions, including the European Union (EU) and the US.
Led by Tata Motors and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), the combined revenue of the Tata group's listed firms crossed the Rs 10-trillion mark for the first time, in 2022-23. The group's 14 key listed companies in which Tata Sons holds a direct equity stake reported a combined revenue of Rs 10.07 trillion in FY23, up 15.3 per cent from Rs 8.73 trillion in FY22. The combined net profit of these companies was, however, down 10.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) at Rs 66,670 crore in FY23, from a record high of Rs 74,540 crore in the previous financial year, when the profit had jumped 156 per cent YoY, aided by Tata Steel's strong showing.
India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp is still hoping to clinch the deal for takeover of PetroKazakhstan, with senior officials dashing-off to Russia to get Lukoil to stop the company's sale to China's CNPC.
Winner will construct 300,000 barrels per day refinery.
Several US lawmakers -- both from the House of Representatives and the Senate - had in the past had raised question over Reliance's business ties with Iran and had urged the Export Import Bank of the US to rescind loan guarantees to Reliance.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp has bid for Russia's Trebs and Titov oilfields and is pitted against local giant LukOil and a venture owned by energy major BP Plc for rights to develop the giant reserves.
TI report, which placed 42 oil and gas companies into three tiers based on their level of transparency in revenue disclosure, clubbed ONGC with China's CNOOC and CNPC, Russia's Lukoil and US-based ExxonMobil Corp in the lowest tier for disclosing information only by geographical segment and providing almost no additional information.
Steel czar Lakshmi N Mittal is keen on selling half of his stake in a Kazakhstan oil field to state-run ONGC Videsh Ltd to tide over the severe financial constraint affecting his planned expansion in energy sector.
India-born billionaire Lakshmi Mittal will pay Russia's Lukoil $980-million
The Antonov AN-24 plane crashed and burst into flames five kilometers from the Varandey airfield in Nenets Autonomous District, more than 1,000 km north of Moscow while approaching for landing. 23 survivors were rushed to hospital.
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