The exports come after European diesel profit margins hit a record of $74 a barrel on Wednesday as the region’s stockpiles have fallen to their lowest since 2014 and escalation in the Middle East conflict hit Gulf exports to Europe.
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About 4 million to 5 million barrels of the industrial and transport fuel were loaded at the refiner’s Jamnagar site this month for Europe, according to data from Kpler, Vortexa and two trade sources, returning to levels seen before the U.S.-Iran war started and the highest in 10 months.
Reliance did not respond to a Reuters query seeking comment.
Another factor behind the higher exports is Russia’s ban on diesel exports for most of July after Ukrainian drone attacks damaged some refineries. Moscow is expected to extend the ban to August.
The world’s second largest crude importer, India has been stepping up fuel exports in the past year, capitalising on its position as a swing barrel supplier to markets both east and west of Suez.Its diesel exports were at three-year highs in 2025, Kpler data showed.
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Consultancy Energy Aspects expects Europe to face a shortfall of 833,000 barrels per day of middle distillates – diesel and jet fuel – in the third quarter.
The east-west spread, or the difference between ICE gasoil front month prices and Asia swaps, widened to discounts of nearly $140 a ton in the past two trading sessions, versus $80 a metric ton in the first four weeks of July, LSEG data showed.
EXPORT FLOWS TO EUROPE UNCERTAIN FOR AUGUST
However, for this tradeflow to extend into August, Europe has to “out-bid an East that is still paying up for the same cargoes”, said Sparta Commodities head of commodities James Noel-Beswick.
Despite the wider east-west spread, the economics for shipping diesel from India’s west coast using Long-Range 2 ships that can carry 90,000 metric tons (750,000 barrels) of the fuel to Asia is better than Europe in the first half of August compared with July, he added.
Freight costs are slightly more than $5 million to charter an LR2 tanker to ship refined fuels from west coast India to Europe, or $55 a ton, according to shipping data.
Diesel margins have also strengthened in Asia to four-month highs of $77 a barrel，with trading sentiment bolstered by tightness in markets west of Suez.
India’s exports to Brazil are on track to hit an 11-month high of 2.8 million barrels, Kpler shiptracking data showed, with cargoes to be loaded from Reliance’s Jamanagar refinery and Vadinar.
At the same time, Russian exports to Brazil for July have fallen to their lowest in nearly four years, according to the data.