New Delhi: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has bounced back as India’s key LPG supplier after having lost the top slot to the USA due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the continuing Middle East conflict.  

Data compiled by maritime intelligence firm Kpler shows that the UAE accounted for 39 per cent of India’s LPG imports in September, up from 13 per cent in the previous month, overtaking the US, which had been the biggest supplier of the cooking gas over the previous six months. 

The UAE supplied 547,000 tonnes of LPG, 182 per cent more than 193,000 tonnes in August, while the US was the second-largest supplier as its shipments fell 58 per cent from 323,000 tonnes in August. While the US accounted for 53 per cent of India’s total LPG imports in August, its share in September fell to 23 per cent.

"The physical market has demonstrated greater resilience than assumed. Combined crude volumes exiting the Gulf (excluding Iran) plus volumes from West Coast Saudi and East Coast UAE are around pre-conflict levels of 18.5 million barrels per day, but when you include diverted volume shipped from the Saudi West coast and UAE East coast it's now around 100 per cent," Kpler said.

India imports 60 per cent of its LPG requirements, of which 90 per cent used to come from the Gulf countries via Hormuz.

India’s LPG imports from Kuwait and Qatar also went up in September. Kuwait was the third-largest supplier, followed by Qatar. India’s overall LPG imports fell 4 per cent in September to 1.39 million tonnes compared with August. 

The volume of oil flowing from the Middle East region has also returned to pre-war levels despite the continued restrictions Iran is placing on vessels attempting to travel through the Strait of Hormuz.

Seven months after the US-Israel war with Iran led to the effective closure of the critical waterway, Kpler said that in the final week of September, daily oil flow from the Middle East reached 92 per cent of its pre-war baseline.

Analysts attribute the rebounding flow of oil and petroleum products to ships being escorted with US military assistance. Shuttle super tankers are being used through the strait, which then transfer the crude and petroleum products to other vessels waiting nearby. Besides, the Gulf countries are also using pipelines to bypass the Strait.