Mukesh Ambani backed Reliance Industries bought West Asian crudes last week and may place more orders, signalling that Western pressure against Russian oil may be starting to impact its procurement patterns.

The refiner bought at least 2.5 million barrels, including Iraq’s Basrah Medium, as well as Al-Shaheen and Qatar Land, said traders familiar with the matter. While RIL’s typical procurement does include crude from the region, the recent spurt of buying was more active than usual, the traders said, Bloomberg reported.

On top of the flurry of spot purchases, Reliance has also been making enquiries to a large number of potential counterparties about the availability of oil from the region for quality similar to Russian crude, the traders said.

The company has typically been the largest single buyer of Moscow’s crude in India, relying on the flows as a mainstay for its operations.

The development comes within a week of US President Donald Trump claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that India would pull back from buying Russian oil. Trump said India would continue to face ‘massive tariffs’ if it keeps buying Russian oil.

Other Indian refiners have broadly indicated they would trim — but not stop — purchases from the Opec+ producer.

A ban by the European Union on imports of fuel made from Russian crude, is set to take effect on January 21, potentially impacting Reliance’s exports of refined products to the bloc. Official guidelines named India as a country that counterparties should take added precautions with.