Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: India’s purchase of crude from Russia rose 90% in March compared with Feb, even as overall imports declined nearly 15% due to the disruption of energy supplies from West Asia.The disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, a key energy chokepoint, also led to a 40% fall in India’s petroleum gas (LPG) imports and a decline in natural gas (LNG) shipments in March, forcing New Delhi to scout for alternate sources (see graphic).
India changing energy map
After subdued purchases in Dec 2025 and Jan-Feb 2026, imports from Russia surged following a 30-day waiver announced by the United States that allowed purchases of sanctioned oil already at sea. Imports from African countries such as Angola, Gabon, Ghana and Congo also rose, though their overall contribution to the oil basket remained small. “Middle Eastern producers are partially rerouting supplies via pipelines that bypass Hormuz — notably Saudi Arabia’s East-West (Yanbu) pipeline and the UAE’s Habshan-Fujairah pipeline. These flows have provided incremental relief, allowing India to continue sourcing some volumes from the region despite maritime constraints,” said Sumit Ritoia, lead analyst at global data analytics firm Kpler.He added that the purchase of Russian oil is expected to continue into April, while there is also potential for the purchase of Iranian barrels. “India is also expected to start receiving Venezuelan barrels from April onwards which would help mitigate some of the crude supply risk.”India’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Qatar fell sharply by 92% compared to Feb due to a force majeure declared by QatarEnergy, which has long-term contracts with New Delhi, as well as disruption in Hormuz. The shortfall was partly offset by a surge in imports from the US, Oman, Angola and Nigeria.The sharp fall in LPG imports was marginally offset by ramping up domestic production and restricting supplies to commercial and industrial consumers, to ensure availability of cooking gas for the large customer base of over 33.2 crore.
