Amid mounting US pressure on Indias purchase of Russian oil Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries-- the countrys largest oil refiner-- has begun diversifying its oil purchases and procured at least 2.5 million barrels of crude oil from Middle Eastern suppliers in the last week. Why Reliance increase crude oil purchases from Middle East? According to a Bloomberg report Mukesh Ambanis Reliance Industries which owns the worlds largest refinery in Gujarats Jamnagar purchased crudes from Iraqs Basrah Medium Al- Shaheen and Qatar Land among other suppliers in the Middle East and is likely to place larger orders in coming days. Citing traders familiar with the matter the report noted that while Reliance doesnt usually buy crude oil from the Middle East its recent surging in oil imports from the region was more active than usual a clear sign that the oil-to-telecom conglomerate was showing signs of buckling under pressure from US President Donald Trump who has imposed punitive tariffs on Indian goods for New Delhis continued purchases of Russian oil. Reliance has also been making a large number of enquiries about the availability of oil in the Middle East which is of a similar quality to Russian crude the traders said according to the report. Are Reliances purchases linked to Trumps recent claim? The surge in spot oil purchases by Reliance which has been the single largest buyer of Russian crude in India comes following Donald Trumps alleged phone call with Narendra Modi during which the Indian Prime Minister allegedly agreed to halt Russian oil imports in a gradual manner. India has denied Trumps claim stating that no such phone call took place between the two leaders but the US President has repeated that PM Modi had assured him during the purported phone conversation  to gradually halt Russian oil purchases. On Sunday Trump warned that will continue to pay high tariffs if they do not stop oil imports from Russia Talking to reporters aboard the Air Force One Trump was asked about New Delhi denial he replied Well then theyre going to just keep paying a lot of tariffs if they said that but I dont believe they said that. No I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India and he said hes not going to be doing the Russian oil thing. What Anant Ambani said about Reliances oil imports? Earlier Anant Ambani the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani revealed the multitude of challenges faced by Reliance Industries over the past year in the energy sector particularly in the purchase of crude oil from Russia. Speaking at the Reliance AGM 2025 in September Anant Ambani had revealed there is pressure on Reliance in purchasing Russian oil but the oil-to-telecom conglomerate also focused on green energy investments spending its funds wisely ensuring good profits despite a challenging year for the countrys energy sector.