Adani Enterprises
Indian conglomerate; fined $275m by OFAC for 32 Iran-LPG sanctions violations in May 2026.
Last refreshed: 18 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Why did OFAC's Adani fine signal the end of the price-cap waiver era?
Timeline for Adani Enterprises
Settled $275m OFAC enforcement action for 32 Iran-LPG violations
European Oil Markets: GL 134B dies, Urals $28 over the capMentioned in: Russian-flag shadow fleet share hits 21%
European Oil Markets- Why was Adani fined $275 million by OFAC in 2026?
- OFAC settled with Adani Enterprises on 18 May 2026 for 32 Iran-LPG sanctions violations, imposing a $275m penalty. The case related to Iranian-origin LPG purchases routed through third-country intermediaries by Adani's trading Arm.Source: OFAC
- What does the Adani OFAC settlement mean for European commodity traders?
- The settlement establishes that secondary sanctions apply to non-US firms with dollar-clearing exposure transacting in Iranian-origin commodities, even without US soil contact. European desks read it as narrowing SAFE-harbour logic for Russian crude supply chains too.Source: OFAC
- What businesses does the Adani Group operate?
- Adani Enterprises is the flagship of the Adani Group, which operates ten major Indian ports including Mundra (India's largest), four airports, coal mining, power generation, green hydrogen projects, and LPG/LNG import infrastructure.
- How does the Adani fine change OFAC sanctions enforcement post-GL 134B?
- OFAC explicitly positioned the $275m Adani settlement as the template for commodity-chain prosecution replacing waiver-based mechanisms. It extends secondary sanctions accountability further into non-US supply chains than previously enforced.Source: OFAC
Background
Adani Enterprises is the flagship listed entity of the Adani Group, India's largest port and infrastructure conglomerate founded by Gautam Adani in 1988. The group operates ten major Indian ports (including Mundra, India's largest), four domestic airports, coal mining, power generation, green hydrogen ventures, and an integrated LPG/LNG import and distribution chain. Adani's trading Arm sources LPG globally through term and spot contracts.
Adani Enterprises found itself at the centre of the May 2026 sanctions enforcement wave when OFAC posted a $275m settlement on 18 May for 32 Iran-LPG sanctions violations — the largest commodity-chain prosecution since the price-cap mechanism's inception. The penalty arrived two days after General Licence 134B expired, and OFAC's press language explicitly framed it as the template for future enforcement replacing the price-cap waiver architecture.
The settlement establishes that Indian commodity importers with US dollar clearing exposure can be prosecuted under OFAC's secondary sanctions framework even where the physical cargo never touched US soil. For European oil traders, the precedent narrows the implied SAFE harbour for commodity supply chains that touch Iran indirectly, and raises the prosecution risk for any desk still using GL 134B/134C waiver logic as a template for Russian crude continuity.
