SINGAPORE: Reliance Industries has partially offloaded a jet fuel cargo in Italy, India's first export to Europe since a European Union ban on products derived from Russian oil took effect on January 21, according to ship-tracking data and trade sources.
India is one of the top buyers of Russian crude, and market players are closely monitoring its refined oil exports to Europe for signs of trade disruptions that could drive up prices for alternative supplies.
The EU ban on importing products produced from Russian crude is aimed at curbing oil revenues Moscow uses to fund the war in Ukraine.
Reliance operates two refineries at its Jamnagar complex — one geared for exports and one for the domestic market. The company said on November 20 that it had stopped processing Russian crude at its export-oriented facility.
The Aframax tanker Liwa-V, chartered by Reliance, offloaded about 390,000 barrels of jet fuel, or around half its cargo, at Fiumicino port near Rome between February 1 and February 4, according to ship-tracking data from Kpler, Vortexa and trade sources.
The vessel arrived in Italy around January 8 and waited outside the port for nearly three weeks. It was originally scheduled to unload by January 24, trade sources said.
“The discharge has been delayed due to bad weather. The ship has already discharged a substantial amount of cargo and is waiting outside the port to offload the remainder,” a Reliance spokesperson said.
As Western nations have sought to curb reliance on Russian energy since the Ukraine war began, India has increased purchases of discounted Russian crude.
India exported 4.1 million metric tons of jet fuel to Europe last year, nearly three times the volume shipped in 2021 before the conflict, Kpler data showed. India supplied nearly 15% of Europe’s aviation fuel imports between 2022 and 2025.
Reliance said it has provided written declarations to European buyers and traders confirming that Russian crude was not used to produce fuels exported to Europe.
“Reliance maintains that segregation of diesel streams is possible, and one would expect the company to explore workarounds such as FOB sales or blending operations should European buyers remain cautious,” said Sparta Commodities analyst James Noel-Beswick.
For January, only one other Indian jet fuel shipment — on the tanker Karpathos — is bound for Europe, according to shipping data and trade sources.
Europe has yet to receive any diesel imports from India since the ban took effect. __Reuters
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