Indian refineries shipped oil products worth €1 bn to countries imposing sanctions on Russia in September, a 43 per cent increase from August, according to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), cited by news agency PTI. Refineries in Turkiye and Brunei were also included in the assessment.

Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat accounted for six of the seven cargoes unloaded at European Union ports during the month. The shipments took place despite the EU’s ban on imports of oil products refined from Russian crude, which came into effect in January 2026.

The EU received products worth €667 mn from the refineries covered by the report. Australia imported €168 mn, the United States received €154 mn and New Zealand imported €19 mn. CREA estimated that €295 mn of the exported products had been refined from Russian crude, while Jamnagar accounted for €122 mn of shipments to the US.

Russian crude represented 32 per cent of Jamnagar’s crude oil imports between July and September. Among EU destinations, Italy received three shipments, Romania received two, and Spain and Cyprus received one each. The value of exports to EU ports from refineries processing Russian crude rose 80 per cent month on month, including a 104,000 t gasoil cargo from Jamnagar that was still travelling to Rotterdam.

CREA said the EU’s rules exempt net crude oil exporters, potentially allowing Russian crude to enter supply chains through third-country refineries. It recommended restricting imports from any refinery that had processed Russian crude during the previous six months, irrespective of the declared origin of the finished product.

India’s Russian crude imports fell 13 per cent in September, the second consecutive monthly decline. Purchases dropped 27 per cent at Jamnagar, 21 per cent at Indian Oil Corporation’s Paradip refinery and 8 per cent at Nayara Energy’s Vadinar refinery. Even after the fall, India remained Russia’s second-largest fossil fuel buyer, spending €4.1 bn on hydrocarbons, while crude accounted for 88 per cent of the total.