Supplies from Saudi Arabia to India have normalised while the UAE shipments are running well above last year's average, as both countries ramp up loadings from alternative ports that bypass the Strait of Hormuz disruption.

Increasing flows from Saudi Arabia and the UAE along with resumed imports from Iran and Venezuela and higher purchases from Russia have partly offset Gulf supply losses and ensured crude oil availability for India this month, said Nikhil Dubey, senior research analyst at the ship-tracking firm Kpler.

India's average crude imports of 4.4 million barrels per day (bpd) between April 1-26 were about 15% below February's intake of 5.2 million bpd, as supplies from Iraq - its second-largest source - are still shut, along with volumes from Kuwait and Qatar, according to Kpler.

Saudi Arabia supplied 697,000 bpd in April, compared with the average of 668,000 bpd in 2025-26. UAE supplies stood at 619,000 bpd in April, higher than the previous fiscal's average of 433,000 bpd.

Saudi Arabia has been redirecting shipments from Ras Tanura in the Persian Gulf to the Yanbu terminal on the Red Sea via its 7 million bpd East-West pipeline. UAE, meanwhile, is rerouting flows through the 1.7 million bpd ADCOP pipeline to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. Other Gulf producers remain overwhelmingly dependent on Hormuz for exports.

Supplies from Oman, which do not have to cross the strait, have also increased, climbing to 101,000 bpd in April from an average of 18,000 bpd in 2025-26.

Easing of US sanctions has helped Indian refiners, scrambling for alternatives after the Hormuz disruption tightened supplies and led to a surge in prices.

Resumption of crude supplies in April from Iran (151,000 bpd) after seven years and from Venezuela (258,000 bpd) after a nine-month gap has helped refiners secure volumes. US supplies to India, however, have lagged, falling to 115,000 bpd in April, well below the 2025-26 average of 314,000 bpd.

The US eased exports of Venezuelan crude after the capture of its President, Nicholas Maduro, in January, and issued waivers in March, facilitating imports of Iranian and Russian oil.

Russian supplies, which had dipped sharply in January and February due to the US sanctions, doubled month-on-month in March to 2 million bpd. This month, however, imports have moderated to 1.6 million bpd due to lower availability.

Source: The Economic Times 

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