Lakshmi Mittal’s Refinery Imports $280M in Sanctioned Russian Oil
Satellite imagery and shipping logs reveal that HPCL-Mittal Energy Limited (HMEL), a joint venture partly owned by steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, processed four shipments of Russian crude oil worth approximately $280 million between July and September. The cargo originated from Murmansk port on vessels already under U.S. sanctions, with transponders disabled and falsified GPS signals deployed to obscure routes.
The oil transferred mid-journey to the EU-blacklisted tanker Samadha in the Gulf of Oman before reaching Punjab's Guru Gobind Singh Refinery. While HMEL's awareness of the sanctioned vessels remains unclear, the elaborate obfuscation tactics suggest deliberate efforts to circumvent restrictions. Mittal's energy arm now faces scrutiny as global sanctions enforcement intensifies.
