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Iran conflict pushes India's oil import bill to $16.3B
25 May 2026

India's oil import bill skyrocketed by 52.3% to $16.3 billion in April, from $10.7 billion a year ago, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).

The spike comes as crude prices remained above $100 a barrel for much of the month due to the ongoing conflict in Iran.

Oil import volumes decline
Supply challenges

The surge in India's oil import bill comes despite a 4.2% decline in volumes to 20.1 million tons.

The drop is attributed to supply disruptions from West Asia due to the ongoing Iran conflict and its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

This has further strained India's oil imports, contributing to the overall increase in costs.

Rising Urals crude prices impact import costs
Price surge

The increase in India's oil import bill is also due to the rising prices of Russian Urals crude.

The price of this oil, which usually trades at a discount to Brent, shot up by 19% month-on-month to $112.3 per barrel in April.

This was more than double the EU and UK cap of $44.1 that came into effect on February 1, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

LNG imports plummet
Imports

Despite the spike in oil import costs, India's domestic oil production remained steady at 2.3 million tons from a year ago.

However, LNG imports saw a sharp decline of 29.6% to 1,954 million standard cubic meters (mmscm) in April.

This was mainly due to Iran's strike that severely damaged Qatar Energy's main gas facility at Ras Laffan, affecting India's single-largest gas supplier which meets nearly half of its natural gas needs.

Petroleum product exports fall in volume
Decline

India's natural gas consumption fell by 16.7% in April to 4,703 mmscm from 5,648 mmscm a year ago.

The ongoing conflict in West Asia has also impacted India's petroleum product exports, which fell by 15% to 3.4 million tons.

However, in value terms, the export rose sharply by 83.3% to $4.4 billion compared to last year.