UAE now supplies up to 20% of India's energy imports, Delhi says

Summary

• The UAE supplies 15-20% of India's total energy imports, a senior Indian oil official said.
• India has widened crude sourcing to about 43 countries since supplies through the Strait of Hormuz were disrupted.
• The shift redraws Gulf-Asia energy trade routes, with Russia still first and US gas surging.

The latest

The UAE is now supplying roughly 15 to 20% of India's total energy imports, Neeraj Mittal, Secretary at India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told The National. The share breaks down across liquefied petroleum gas, LNG and crude oil, as India broadens its supplier base following disruption to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Details

• The breakdown: Mittal said the UAE accounts for 25% of India's liquefied petroleum gas imports, 10% of its liquefied natural gas, and 15% of its crude oil. Together those streams put the Emirates at 15 to 20% of India's overall energy import basket, according to his account to The National.
• The diversification: India has expanded crude purchases to cover around 43 countries, Mittal said, a widening that followed the disruption of supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. He did not specify when that expansion was completed, or which countries were newly added to the list.
• Russia still first: Despite the broader sourcing map, Russia remains India's leading crude supplier, Mittal said. The UAE and the United States were described as growing partners rather than replacements, indicating the diversification has added suppliers alongside Moscow rather than displacing it at the top.
• The US surge: The sharpest single shift Mittal cited involves American liquefied natural gas, whose share of India's LNG imports climbed to 67% from 10% at the start of the year — a near sevenfold increase in share within a single year, on his figures.
• The storage deal: In May 2026, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the UAE, Adnoc signed an agreement with Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves to expand crude storage capacity in India to 30 million barrels. The announcement did not set out a completion date for the expansion.
• What it buys Delhi: Strategic reserves give an importing country a cushion against supply shocks and price spikes. Expanding capacity to 30 million barrels extends the window India can cover domestic demand if a shipping route or a major supplier is interrupted again.
• The Hormuz factor: The Strait of Hormuz is the chokepoint through which much of the Gulf's crude and LNG moves to Asian buyers. Mittal tied India's wider sourcing directly to the disruption there, framing the supplier expansion as a response rather than a long-planned commercial shift.
• No value given: Mittal set out India's dependence entirely in percentage terms. No dollar value, volume figure or contract duration was attached to the UAE's share, and no timeline was given for whether that 15 to 20% band is expected to rise.

Background

India is one of the world's largest crude importers and depends on overseas supply for the bulk of its consumption, leaving it exposed to any interruption of Gulf shipping lanes. Russia became its dominant supplier after 2022, and remains so on Mittal's account.

Between the lines

Two of the figures sit together uneasily. Russia is still India's top crude supplier, yet US LNG jumped from 10% to 67% of India's gas imports in under a year — suggesting Delhi is diversifying far faster in gas than in oil. The Adnoc storage deal points the same way: capacity built at home is insurance against the route, not only the supplier.

What's next

Watch whether the Adnoc storage expansion to 30 million barrels gets a construction timeline, and whether the US share of India's LNG imports holds above 67% once the current contracting year closes.

Source: The National