US dominates India’s LPG basket as West Asia war reshapes energy flows

New Delhi: India has steadily increased cooking gas purchases from the US, as the government intensifies efforts to diversify imports after the West Asia conflict disrupted supplies and prompted emergency curbs on fuel sales.

The US emerged as India’s top liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supplier in March, selling 435,081 tonnes, as the widening West Asia war disrupted shipping through the crucial Strait of Hormuz and triggered an unprecedented global energy crisis.

Since then, Washington has remained New Delhi’s top LPG supplier, with India often turning to spot purchases of US cargoes, which come at a premium to traditional West Asian supplies.

So far this month (as of 19 June), the US has supplied over 497,000 tonnes of LPG, while the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which was India’s top supplier prior to the US-Iran war that began on 28 February, has sold nearly 90,000 tonnes, according to data from trade intelligence firm Kpler. The other key suppliers include Iran (73,073 tonnes), Saudi Arabia (53,218 tonnes) and Kuwait (22,554 tonnes).

India imported 384,911 tonnes of LPG in April and about 629,500 tonnes in May from the US.

"The US has become a major LPG supplier for India as Gulf flows were recently disrupted. While this improves diversification, it can raise delivered costs due to longer-haul freight," said Sumit Ritolia, senior manager, modelling, Kpler.

So far during the conflict, the US has been the top supplier, with cumulative LPG exports of nearly 1.95 million tonnes since March, followed by the UAE at 613,041 tonnes and Saudi Arabia at 412,577 tonnes. India has imported 4.10 million tonnes LPG since 1 March, a 44% decline from about 7.41 million tonnes in the March-June period of last year, according to Kpler, as the government took measures to curb demand.

India meets about 65% of its 33-million-tonne annual LPG demand through imports, spending nearly $11 billion. Before the conflict, India sourced about 90% of its LPG imports by volume from West Asia, leaving its supply chain highly concentrated. Within months, however, it pivoted quickly to alternative suppliers. As a result, West Asian supplies to the world’s second-largest LPG importer have fallen to less than half the pre-war levels.

A Crisil report released on 19 June said that the US has emerged as one of the country’s largest LPG suppliers, accounting for nearly a third of the import volume in April 2026 compared to just 8% in February 2026. The shift has also been made possible by a 2.2-million-tonne-per-annum LPG deal with the US signed in late 2025, equivalent to roughly 10% of India’s annual imports, it added.

Besides, Iran has re-entered India’s import basket, contributing 6% of imports in April. Indian buyers are also sourcing from Argentina, Chile, France and the Netherlands, further reducing reliance on the traditional Gulf suppliers—the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait.

The Crisil report also noted that the diversification has its own trade-offs, including higher freight exposure and longer supply chains. According to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas, the LPG import bill during the first two months of this fiscal (FY27) was $1.47 billion, compared to $1.96 billion a year ago.

As the war intensified, oil marketing companies imposed restrictions on the sale of petroleum products under government directives. LPG booking intervals were extended to 45 days in rural areas and 25 days in urban markets, while diesel purchases at retail outlets were capped at 200 litres a day per consumer.

Kirit Parikh, former member (energy) at the erstwhile Planning Commission, said: "US exporters of oil and gas gained from the current scenario. Now with the Iran-US war more or less coming to an end, I think prices should come down. However, West Asian producers would require more time to enhance their capacity to the pre-war levels, so India may have to pay more in the near term."

The conflict has sharply pushed up international LPG prices as well. Saudi Aramco Contract Price, the benchmark for LPG imports into India, increased 46% over February-June 2026 as the market priced in supply disruption risks and higher freight costs. The Saudi Aramco Contract Price (CP) for June 2026 is $760 per tonne for propane and $820 per tonne for butane. Cooking gas is primarily made up of a mixture of propane and butane, derived from crude oil and natural gas.

The war triggered a sharp surge in crude oil prices, which have since eased after the US and Iran agreed to an interim peace deal. Around 4 PM on Monday, the August contract of the benchmark Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange was down 1.75% at $79.16 per barrel after the initial round of talks between Iran and the US ended on a positive note in Switzerland.