New Delhi: HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd (HMEL) has suspended purchases of Russian crude oil, the company said on Tuesday, clarifying that the vessels, which delivered previous consignments, were not under international sanctions.
The private refiner, a joint venture between state-run Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal’s Mittal Energy Investments, said it will continue to review its position and comply with government policy and applicable laws.
HMEL, which operates a 9 million tonnes a year oil refinery at Bhatinda in Punjab, is the first Indian firm to officially announce suspension of purchase of Russian crude after the US sanctioned two of Moscow’s biggest oil firms.
Commenting on a Financial Times report, which stated that Indian refiner had received at least four crude shipments this year worth almost USD 280 million on sanctioned vessels, HMEL said it bought Russian oil on a delivered basis - meaning the supplier made shipping arrangements.
The company said it was not aware of the specific vessels that transported the cargo from Murmansk in Russia’s far northwest, through the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, but clarified that the ships, which eventually delivered the oil at Indian ports, were not under sanctions.
“Notwithstanding this, HMEL had already taken the decision to suspend further purchases of Russian crude upon recent announcements of new restrictions on imports of crude oil from Russia by the United States, European Union and United Kingdom, pending receipt of any outstanding orders,” the company said in a statement.
The US last week imposed sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil in a bid to pressure Moscow into ending its war in Ukraine.
Russia currently supplies nearly a third of India’s crude imports, averaging around 1.7 million barrels per day (mbd) in 2025, of which approximately 1.2 mbd came directly from Rosneft and Lukoil. Most of these volumes were bought by private refiners, Reliance Industries Ltd and Nayara Energy, with smaller allocations to state-owned refiners, including HMEL.
Financial Times said the oil was transported on the US-blacklisted vessels between July and September from the Arctic port of Murmansk to as far as the Gulf of Oman. The oil was transferred on high seas to different vessels.
“The final leg of the journey into India was undertaken on the Samadha, a tanker that is not on US sanctions lists, though it was blacklisted by the EU,” it said, citing an analysis of satellite imagery, shipping data and customs records.
HMEL said the ship Samadha, which delivered the crude to the port in India, was not under OFAC sanctions at the time of delivery.