By Nidhi Verma
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s Reliance Industries Ltd, operator of the world’s biggest refining complex, is restructuring its trading operations, including moving most of its Dubai crude oil trading team back to Mumbai, two sources familiar with the plan said.
The relocation of its crude trading team by the end of this year comes after the private refiner secured long-term oil supplies from Russia, reducing the need to buy spot cargoes, said one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the information was private.
“Now Reliance has a crude import deal with Russia. It also has evergreen kind of crude import deals with major producers in the Middle East, so there is no need to incur extra cost for keeping the staff there,” the source said.
Reliance did not respond to Reuters’ email seeking comments.
In 2021, the private refiner, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, announced the opening of an office in UAE to trade oil and refined fuels including petrochemicals.
A year later, Reliance moved its crude trading team to Dubai as the city became the hub for Russian oil trade after the invasion of Ukraine by Moscow.
The conglomerate, which rarely used to buy Russian oil in the past, now imports about two-fifth of its oil needs from Moscow, data obtained from trade sources showed.
Reliance’s two sophisticated refineries at its Jamnagar complex can process nearly 1.4 million barrels of oil daily. The private refiner is capable of processing some of the toughest heavy crude grade, sold at discounts which improves its profit margins.
Reliance currently has about 20 crude traders in the Dubai office, the sources said.
“Barring 3-4 crude traders all will be (moved) back to Mumbai,” the second source said, adding that the remaining traders will eventually return to Reliance’s headquarters.
The company has already informed its Dubai traders about the plans to relocate them to Mumbai, the sources said.
Reliance plans to keep its product trading team in Dubai for the time being, the first source said.
The Indian conglomerate also has trading offices in Houston and London. Reliance plans to expand its team in London, the sources said.
In the last quarter, Reliance transferred its petrochemical trade team from Dubai to Malaysia where it owns production facilities, they added.
Reliance owns Recron, an integrated polyester and textile company, and RP Chemicals in Malaysia.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Florence Tan and Shri Navaratnam)
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