*

US imposes sanctions on Russian producers Rosneft, Lukoil

*

India is biggest buyer of seaborne Russian oil since

Ukraine war

*

India's Russian oil buys a key Trump irritant in trade

talks

(Recasts with new details throughout)

By Nidhi Verma

NEW DELHI, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Indian refiners are poised

to sharply curtail imports of Russian oil, industry sources said

on Thursday, following new U.S. sanctions on two major Russian

producers aimed at squeezing Moscow's revenue to fund its war in

Ukraine.

India has become the biggest buyer of discounted seaborne

Russian crude in the aftermath of Moscow's 2022 invasion of

Ukraine, importing about 1.7 million barrels per day in the

first nine months of this year.

Russian oil is a main irritant for U.S. President Donald

Trump in prolonged trade talks with India. Half of his 50%

tariffs on Indian goods are in retaliation for those purchases.

Privately-owned Reliance Industries, the top

Indian buyer of Russian crude, plans to reduce or halt

completely its import of Russian oil, according to two sources

familiar with the matter.

"Recalibration of Russian oil imports is ongoing and

Reliance will be fully aligned to GOI (Government of India)

guidelines," a Reliance spokesman said in response to a query on

whether the company plans to cut its crude imports from Russia.

India's oil ministry did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

Indian state refiners are also reviewing their Russian oil

trade documents to ensure no supply will be coming directly from

Rosneft and Lukoil after the U.S. sanctioned the oil companies,

a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

President Trump on Wednesday imposed Ukraine-related

sanctions on Russia for the first time in his second term,

targeting Lukoil and Rosneft as his

frustration grows with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The U.S. Treasury has given companies until November 21 to

wind down their transactions with the Russian oil producers,

according to a release on the sanctions on Wednesday.

"There will be massive cut. We don't anticipate it will go

to zero immediately as there will be some barrels coming into

market" before the deadline, a refinery source said.

State refiners including Indian Oil Corp, Bharat

Petroleum Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals, are reviewing

bills of lading for Russian crude arriving after November 21 to

make sure it is not coming directly from Rosneft or Lukoil, one

of the sources said.

The companies did not immediately respond to requests for

comment.

Indian state refiners rarely buy Russian oil directly from

Rosneft and Lukoil as their purchases are typically done through

intermediaries, trade sources said.

Reliance, which operates the world's biggest refining

complex at Jamnagar in western Gujarat state, has a long-term

deal to buy nearly 500,000 bpd of crude oil from Russian oil

major Rosneft. The refiner also buys Russian oil from

intermediaries.

Nayara Energy, whose biggest shareholder is Rosneft, also

buys oil from the company. Nayara did not immediately respond to

a request for comment.