Crackdown on Russian oil exports a big setback for Reliance, shares dip

New Delhi, Aug 12  US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on Russian oil exports has come as a major blow to Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), which was a major importer of the cheap crude for processing at its giant oil refinery in Jamnagar on the Gujarat coast.

The setback is also reflected in the decline in prices of Reliance shares in recent days after Trump stepped up his rhetoric against the purchase of Russian oil by India.

In the last 30 days, the blue-chip stock fell nearly 7 per cent. At 2.38 p.m. on Tuesday, the scrip was trading at Rs 1,380, down 0.40 per cent. The RIL share price has crashed around 11 per cent from its 52-week high of Rs 1,551.

According to a report in the Financial Times, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance was one of the biggest gainers of Russian crude purchases. The report cites Amrita Sen, director of research at data and analysis consultancy Energy Aspects, as saying that private Indian refiners like Reliance had gained even more than government-owned competitors, such as Indian Oil and Bharat Petroleum, because they exported more of their oil products. Sen pegs the gains of Reliance Industries through the purchase of cheap Russian oil at around $6 billion.

The US previously did not object to oil imports from Russia, as long as they were priced below the $60-a-barrel price cap fixed by the G7 countries to limit Russia’s earnings. These purchases also helped to keep more crude flowing into the market and prices from spinning out of control.

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has pointed out that India’s purchases of Russian crude oil have helped to bring down global energy prices to stable levels.

In an interview with a foreign news channel, Puri said: "Russia is one of the largest crude producers with over 9 million barrels/day. Imagine the chaos if this oil, amounting to about 10 per cent of the global oil supply of around 97 million, vanished from the market. It would have forced the world to reduce its consumption, and since the consumers would be chasing reduced supplies, the prices would’ve spiralled to over $120-130."

"India has been a net positive contributor to global energy price stability, while at the same time we successfully navigated the trilemma of energy availability, affordability and sustainability," he said.

India’s stand has been that Russian oil was never under global sanctions. "Sensible decision makers around the world were aware of the realities of global oil supply chains and how India was only helping the global markets by buying discounted oil under a price cap from wherever we could," the minister said.

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