August 8, 2026: 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 0.912390 million tonnes of LPG from the US in July, the highest among all supplier countries.

Imports increased from 0.26251 million tonnes in February, when the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the US disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, to 0.43508 million tonnes in March. Although imports dipped marginally to 0.38599 million tonnes in April, they surged to 0.62957 million tonnes in May, 0.72205 million in June and 0.91239 million 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 0.34096 billion tonnes in February to 0.13046 billion 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.

(Source: New Indian Express)