After the West Asia crisis that lasted for more than 100 days, India significantly diversified its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) imports, with the United States emerging as the country's largest supplier, overtaking traditional Gulf suppliers such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
According to data from maritime intelligence firm Kpler, India imported 912.39 thousand tonnes of LPG from the US in July, the highest among all supplier countries.
Imports increased from 262.51 thousand tonnes in February, when the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the US disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, to 435.08 thousand tonnes in March. Although imports dipped marginally to 385.99 thousand tonnes in April, they surged to 629.57 thousand tonnes in May, 722.05 thousand tonnes in June and 912.39 thousand tonnes in July.
In contrast, LPG imports from Gulf countries declined sharply during the same period. Imports from the UAE fell from 626.03 thousand tonnes in February to 225.74 thousand tonnes in March before dropping further to 102 thousand tonnes in July.
Similarly, imports from Qatar, once one of India's largest LPG suppliers, declined from 431.02 thousand tonnes in February to 214.28 thousand tonnes in March and 86.82 thousand tonnes in April. Supplies fell to 19.32 thousand tonnes in May, remained absent in June and recovered only marginally to 19.32 thousand tonnes in July.
Imports from Saudi Arabia also dropped sharply, falling from 340.96 thousand tonnes in February to 130.46 thousand tonnes in March and 45 thousand tonnes in May. According to Kpler data, India did not import any LPG from Saudi Arabia in July.
Apart from the US, India sourced LPG from Iran, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Algeria, Nigeria, Argentina, Australia, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Egypt, reflecting a broader strategy to diversify import sources.
During the West Asia crisis, cargo movement through the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints—was severely disrupted. The waterway handles nearly 40% of India's crude oil imports, 60% of its LNG imports and about 90% of its LPG imports.
LPG was the worst-hit fuel because India imports nearly 60% of its domestic requirement, with around 90% of those imports traditionally sourced from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait through the Strait of Hormuz.
During the crisis, state-run oil marketing companies sharply increased spot purchases from the US to ensure uninterrupted supplies.
While the LPG import basket underwent a major shift, Russia continued to dominate India's crude oil imports. India imported 2,763.73 thousand barrels per day (kbd) of crude from Russia in July, marginally higher than 2,729.78 kbd in June.
Saudi Arabia remained the second-largest crude supplier, with exports rising to 413.87 kbd in July from 292.60 kbd in June, while the UAE supplied 470.48 kbd, down from 643.64 kbd in May.
Crude imports from the US, however, declined to 125.35 kbd in July from 250.45 kbd in May and 156.96 kbd in June. Imports from Iraq and Oman increased during the month, highlighting India's continued strategy of diversifying crude sourcing while maintaining Russia as its primary supplier.