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India's Reliance Industries has paid a record $23mn to $25mn to charter a supertanker to lift Iraqi crude, pointing to a limited pool of ships available in the Gulf and the soaring costs of every voyage, three shipping sources said. Shipping traffic via the Strait of Hormuz, through which Iraq's seaborne oil must pass, is still well below the average of 125 to 140 vessels a day seen before the Iran war began at the end of February, putting further strain on buyers seeking to get cargoes out.Reliance, the operator of the world's biggest refining complex in India's western state of Gujarat, booked the tanker to load 2mn barrels of oil at 1200 World Scale — a measure of freight costs — which was 12 times the benchmark freight rate, to lift Iraqi crude, the sources said.That translated into a total cost of $23mn to $25mn for the charter hire — among the highest prices paid during the conflict, according to calculations by ship brokers.Before the war, freight costs were 0.8 to 0.9 times the benchmark, working out at about $2mn.Despite paying the record freight rate, Reliance is still expected to save millions of dollars on the cargo because of steep discounts offered by Iraq's state oil marketer SOMO, the sources said.The vessel will be supplied by South Korea's Sinokor, one of the few shipowners continuing to send tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as attacks on commercial vessels have increased the risks of navigating the waterway.Reliance and Sinokor did not respond to emailed requests for comment.Iraq is offering its crude at a discount of about $25 to $30 per barrel to Dubai benchmarks to entice buyers to lift cargoes from terminals inside the Strait of Hormuz, a document seen by Reuters this week showed. Several Indian and Chinese refiners have sought vessels this week to enter the Strait and load crude at Iraq's Basrah Oil Terminal, attracted by the steep discounts, other shipping sources said.However, no vessels have been fixed so far as shipowners are wary of entering the waterway, they said.

Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, helped by a steady performance across its core oil-to-chemicals arm and consumer-facing divisions.The retail-to-refining giant led by billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani is India's most valuable company by market capitalisation.It said net profit attributable to owners of the company came in at 209.46bn rupees ($2.17bn) for the April-June quarter, down more than 22% from the same period last year.This beat the average analyst estimate of 198.23bn rupees.The drop in profit was expected as the bottomline in the same quarter last year was drastically boosted by a one-off gain from the sale of a key investment.Revenue from operations meanwhile rose over 25% year-on-year to hit 3.11tn rupees.However, that was accompanied by a nearly 31% jump in the "cost of materials consumed".Despite having aggressively expanded into telecoms and green energy over the last decade, Reliance still depends on its traditional oil business for profits.The conglomerate owns and operates the world's largest refinery complex in the Indian state of Gujarat.This business has faced multiple headwinds from the Mideast conflict, but a Reliance statement said it was able to weather the storm through "crude basket diversification, efficient product placement in deficit markets and favourable ethane cracking economics".Chairman Ambani added that the oil-to-chemicals unit delivered a "strong performance", helped by "all-time high" refining margins."This was achieved despite a challenging global energy market backdrop with disrupted supply chains," he said in a statement.Reliance's consumer-facing businesses also helped prop up its overall June quarter performance.The company's telecoms arm, which is set for its own IPO later this year, saw its average revenue per user rise 3.3% year-on-year.The company said the slight uptick was due to a "better subscriber mix" and came despite several discount schemes that were rolled out for fixed broadband customers.The retail unit meanwhile posted a 7.4% on-year rise in gross revenue, driven by growth across grocery, fashion and consumer electronics verticals.But margins dropped slightly as the conglomerate invests in infrastructure for its quick commerce push.Reliance Industries shares have fallen more than 15% this year, underperforming the benchmark Nifty index.

Reliance Industries, one of India's biggest companies, on Friday reported weaker quarterly profits than expected, as a muted performance in its retail business overshadowed strong growth in its telecoms division.The oil-to-telecoms giant, led by Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani, is India's most valuable company by market capitalisation.The conglomerate said net profit came in at 186.45bn rupees ($2.05bn) for the October-December quarter, up just 0.57% from the same period last year.Analysts had on average expected a bottom line of 198.96bn rupees, according to estimates compiled by Bloomberg.Revenue from operations for Reliance meanwhile rose 10.5% year-on-year to 2.69tn rupees.But this was accompanied by a 11.5% jump in expenses that it said included the cost of complying with India's new labour laws.Despite its aggressive push into retail, telecoms and green energy, Reliance continues to rely on its traditional oil business for profits.While its core oil-to-chemicals (O2C) division struggled for parts of 2024 and 2025 — as global uncertainty roiled the industry — it has started to bounce back.In a statement, Ambani noted that the "robust growth" in the O2C business was led by "significantly higher fuel margins" and "operational flexibility".Reliance's consumer-facing businesses have long been fast-growing bright spots.But for the December quarter, the conglomerate's retail unit was hurt by weaker margins.The telecoms unit, which is gearing up for a public listing later this year, saw its average revenue per user grow 5.1% year-on-year.The company attributed the bump to higher demand for 5G services.Reliance Industries shares have slipped over 7% so far this year. 

India’s Reliance Industries Ltd is seeking to sell cargoes of Middle Eastern oil, an unusual move for a refiner that’s normally a major buyer.There’s heightened focus on the actions of the nation’s oil processors since the US slapped sanctions on key supplier Russia. Reliance has been trying to sell grades including Murban and Upper Zakum on the spot market to domestic and international refiners, according to people at the companies receiving those offers. They asked not to be named as they aren’t authorised to speak publicly.India’s largest privately owned refiner, controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, is typically a major importer of oil from the Middle East and Russia. The recent sanctions on Moscow’s two largest oil companies have spurred expectations that Indian processors will have to buy more barrels from countries such as Saudi Arabia.Yet the offers suggest Reliance has ample supply for now, though the reasons why are unclear. Traders are watching Indian buying patterns closely to see whether refiners will hoover up grades tied to benchmark crude prices — potentially supporting oil futures — or find ways to sustain imports from Russia.The Mumbai-based company has already sold a cargo of Iraqi Basrah Medium crude to a Greek buyer. It’s unclear how much crude Reliance is looking to offload in total; and it could choose to sell some but not all of the cargoes.A Reliance Industries spokesperson didn’t reply to an email seeking comment.Refiners in India, the world’s third-largest importer of crude, are busy trying to diversify their supply sources after Western sanctions made buying discounted Russian oil more difficult and risky.Reliance had been Indian’s top importer of Russian crude this year, but snapped up millions of barrels from the Middle East last month following the White House penalties against Russia, which were aimed at depriving the Kremlin of funds for its war in Ukraine.Reliance said last month that it would abide by the US sanctions, and would be adapting its operations to meet the compliance requirements. The refiner previously had a term supply deal for around 500,000 barrels a day from Russian producer Rosneft PJSC.