New Delhi: India’s crude oil supply chain has entered a period of rapid reconfiguration in the wake of maritime traffic shutdown through the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year. With roughly a fifth of all global crude oil shipments moving through the waterway, and limited options to bypassing it, disruption in flow had far-reaching consequences for world oil markets, especially India which routes nearly 90% of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and 69% of liquefied natural gas through the Strait.As per data released by the maritime intelligence firm Kpler, India’s total crude oil import fell to approximately 4.3-4.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in April as opposed to an average of 5 million bpd in February. Furthermore, the closure triggered a massive recalibration of India’s supplier relationships, drawing in distributors from South America and West Asia, and reviving dormant trade links. India’s pre-conflict supply map, dominated by the United States (US), Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE), has undergone significant changes over the last couple months with Venezuela and Brazil replacing US and Iraq.Iraq, previously India’s second-largest crude oil supplier, alone dispatched 1 million bpd to India before the conflict. For the first time in years, shipments have dropped to zero. Nikhil Dubey, a senior analyst at Kpler, noted that unlike Saudi Arabia and UAE, Iraq lacks alternative maritime infrastructure to serve Asian markets, and should the conflict persist, Iraqi oil supplies are expected to remain low.Saudi Arabia has been redirecting its shipments from Ras Tanura in the Persian Gulf to the Yanbu terminal while UAE is transiting its flows through the ADCOP pipeline to Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman. Saudi Arabia supplied over 697,000 bpd to India in April, compared to an average of 668,000 bpd in the year 2025-2026. Similarly, UAE-led supplies stood at 619,000 bpd in April — a considerable increase from the previous fiscal year’s average of 433,000 bpd. Meanwhile, other Gulf countries like Kuwait and Iraq remain severely dependent on the Strait of Hormuz for their exports.India’s crude oil import challenges pre-date the disruption of trade routes through the Strait of Hormuz. In 2025, the US had placed a 25% tariff penalty on India over its purchase of Russian oil, adding pressure on top of supply disruption. Russian oil imports to India fell sharply in January amid US-India trade talks, before rebounding in March. Presently, New Delhi and Washington are in the middle of negotiating a bilateral trade agreement, the terms of which have not yet been clarified.Dubey stated that increasing flows from Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Russia, along with a resumption of imports from Iran and Venezuela were pivotal in ensuring India’s crude oil availability following Gulf supply losses. Russia remained India’s top supplier despite crude oil imports falling 20% in April to 1.57 million bpd, after Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s key oil-export hubs in the Baltic sea. Russian imports surged in March following a temporary US waiver on the purchase of Russian oil, and the availability of floating cargoes amid the US-Israel war on Iran.Indian Oil Corporation remained the largest buyer of Russian crude oil both in March and April, encompassing about 42% of India’s total Russian oil purchases and averaging 670,000 bpd between April 1 and April 26 2026, followed by Reliance Industries at 235,000 bpd. Reliance Industries was also the prime purchaser for Venezuelan oil shipments which resumed after nearly one year, prompted by US’ takeover of oil assets under the Maduro government, and accounted for 298,000 bpd in April.April also marked the revival of Iranian crude oil imports to India after seven years. India last bought Iranian oil in 2019 when the US government tightened its sanctions on Tehran. The 30-day US waiver enacted in April reopened this channel, with Indian refiners sourcing 130,000 bpd from Iran in April.April’s crude oil import figures denoted a marked shift in India’s supply chain and trade partnerships, as Venezuela and Iran returned to India’s supplier list while Iraqi imports fell to zero.