India’s state-owned oil refiner HPCL-Mittal Energy (HMEL) has stopped buying Russian crude oil following US sanctions on two of Russia’s largest oil companies.
The Indian state-owned oil company said in a statement on Thursday.
Donald Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on Indian goods in the US market in August for continuing to buy oil from Russia despite the sanctions. Relations between Washington and New Delhi have reached a low point since his imposition of the tariff. US officials have accused India of fueling Russia’s war effort in Ukraine by buying oil at Moscow’s special discounts.
President Donald Trump has claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to reduce Russian oil imports as part of a possible trade deal with the US. However, New Delhi has not confirmed any information on Trump’s claim.
HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), a joint venture between Lakshmi Nivas Mittal, chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker and a top businessperson in the country’s steel industry, and state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), said it had decided to suspend purchases of Russian crude oil.
HMEL said in a statement that the decision was taken last week “following the imposition of new restrictions on imports of Russian oil” by the United States, the European Union (EU) and the United Kingdom.
In a statement, HMEL said HMEL’s business activities are in line with the Indian government and energy security policy.
Reliance Industries, India’s main private sector buyer of Russian oil, said last week it was reviewing the impact of the US sanctions and the restrictions imposed by the European Union this week.
A company spokesman said it would comply with the European Union’s (EU) directive on imports of refined oil from Europe. At the same time, any kind of instructions from India will be followed.
The new European Union restrictions have completely banned the import of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of 2026. Reliance said that its long-tested and versatile oil procurement strategy will ensure the stability of its refining operations; so that the domestic and export markets, and even Europe, can be met.
An investigative report in the influential London daily The Financial Times on Wednesday said that HMEL received several Russian oil shipments. And the ships in which this oil was transported were later subject to US and European Union sanctions.
However, HMEL said that it did not charter these ships itself and had limited control over the oil transport. The company said that the ship that delivered the oil to India was not under US sanctions at the time of delivery.
India is one of the world’s largest oil importers. More than 85 percent of the country’s total energy needs are imported from foreign suppliers. Traditionally dependent on Middle Eastern oil producers, New Delhi began buying large quantities of oil from Russia, which has been hit by Western sanctions, at special discounts since 2022. Sources: Reuters, Hindustan Times, Anadolu Agency, AFP.