Reliance suspends Sikka port's diesel, oil products exports due to cyclone

By Ron Bousso and Mohi Narayan

LONDON (Reuters) -Reliance Industries, which operates the world's largest refining complex, has suspended exports of diesel and other oil products from India's Sikka port because of a cyclone off the west coast of the country, traders said on Monday.

Reliance said in a letter sent to traders that it had declared a force majeure on exports from Sikka due to the storm, which weather forecasters say could hit India's western state of Gujarat and southern parts of Pakistan this week.

The 704,000 barrels per day (bpd) Jamnagar refinery is a major exporter of diesel, particularly to Europe which has sharply increased imports from Asia since the EU imposed a ban on Russian diesel in February.

Reliance did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Force majeure is a notice used to describe events outside a company's control, such as a natural disaster, which usually releases it from contractual obligation without penalty.

(Reporting by Ron Bousso and Mohi Narayan; Editing by David Goodman and Alexander Smith)