India exported 23.7 million tonnes (474,000 bpd) of petroleum products or 10 per cent of the country's fuel consumption, in 2024-25
New Delhi: Amid the ongoing war in West Asia that threatens global oil supplies, India has a crude oil reserve of about 100 million barrels, which would meet 40-45 days of the country’s requirement if flows through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted, according to Kpler.
India imports about 88 per cent of crude oil — the raw material for fuels such as petrol and diesel. Of this, more than 50 per cent is supplied by West Asian countries, passing the narrow Strait of Hormuz, which Tehran has disrupted.
“If crude oil supply from West Asia were to halt for a temporary period, it would affect oil prices globally,” said Sumit Ritolia, Lead Research Analyst, Refining & Modeling at Kpler.
A closure of the Strait of Hormuz would prompt cargo liftings. “Refiners typically maintain commercial inventories, and cargoes already on water would continue to arrive, providing some short-term cushioning to the system,” he said, adding that in the event of a prolonged disruption, medium-term pressures would build through higher import costs, freight exposure and the need to reroute supplies over longer distances.
“The country maintains strategic petroleum reserves alongside commercial inventories held by refiners and oil marketing companies. These buffers are intended to manage temporary supply shocks rather than sustained outages," he said. "Based on Kpler inventory data, commercial crude stocks are around 100 million barrels, including volumes in the strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) facilities at Mangalore, Padur and Visakhapatnam.”
“With imports via the Strait of Hormuz averaging roughly 2.5 million barrels per day — about half of India's just over 5 million bpd total crude imports — these combined reserves could theoretically cover around 40-45 days of imports in a crude disruption scenario, he said, adding that additional refined product inventories would extend effective coverage further.
However, the immediate impact will be on prices. Brent oil price crossed $80 per barrel, roughly 10 per cent more since the Iran crisis. For India, higher prices mean higher import bills. India spent $137 billion on crude oil imports in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025. During April 2025 to January 2026, the first ten months of the current fiscal year, it spent $100.4 billion on imports of 206.3 million tonnes of crude oil.
