India’s crude oil imports in March were the lowest for the month in last five years as the West Asia conflict, which led to the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz for more than 50 days and counting, impacted supplies from its largest suppliers in the Middle East Gulf (MEG) region.
According to the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC), India’s crude oil imports during March declined by 2.6 per cent m-o-m and 17 per cent y-o-y to 18.9 million tonnes (mt) provisionally. Imports in March fell for the third consecutive month. Besides, it is also the lowest monthly import in FY26. In fact, monthly imports in March are the lowest since September 2024.
Analysts attribute the reason to the ongoing conflict in West Asia, which has led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz (SoH) since February 28. Currently, around 30 per cent of India’s imports that were to transit the SoH have been impacted.
Key suppliers
Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE and Oman are the key Indian suppliers whose cargoes transit the world’s most critical energy choke point.
As the conflict in West Asia intensified, India diversified its import basket reducing reliance on SoH. During January and February 2026, more than 50 per cent more than 50 per cent of India’s exports transited the SoH.
To compensate for barrels from the MEG region, India procured Russian crude oil at sea, which was aided by a 30-day sanctions waiver by the US.
Indian refiners have bought a total of 60 million barrels of Russian crude oil since March 5. India purchased around 1.98 million barrels per day (mb/d) of Russian crude oil in March compared to a little over 1 mb/d during February, as per Kpler.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its April oil market report said that importing countries received 4.4 mb/d of Russian crude oil in March, with India unloading 2 mb/d and China 1.8 mb/d.
Indian crude imports rose by 930,000 b/d m-o-m after the US waived restrictions on purchases for cargoes loaded before March 5th. An estimated 22 million barrels of Russian oil on water came onshore in India in March, and 14 million barrels in China, wiping out the volumes at sea that had built up since October 2025.
In March, 12 Indian refineries processed Russian crude, compared with seven in February 2026, IEA added.
Venezuelan crude supply continued to recover in March, rising 120 kb/d m-o-m to 980,000 b/d. Crude exports increased 80,000b/d to 860,000 b/d, with nearly one-third destined for India, while estimated refining runs were up by 40,000 b/d.
IEA pointed out that stocks in oil consuming countries that rely on imports from the Gulf saw steep declines. Asia-Pacific shrank by 21.3 million barrels, mainly in India (-12 million barrels), followed by Africa (-7.3 million barrels) and South America, including Caribbean countries (-3.6 million barrels).
Published on April 19, 2026
