India’s crude oil import bill surged by over 60% on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis in the first quarter of the current financial year even as import volumes dipped slightly amid supply tightness and elevated prices due to the West Asia crisis and stifled energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, as per provisional data from the petroleum ministry. Similarly, liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and petroleum product exports declined in volume terms, while rising in value.Overall, the country’s net oil and gas imports jumped 45% in value from year-ago levels, underscoring the adverse economic impact of the West Asia crisis on energy import-dependent India. The country depends on imports to meet over 88% of its crude oil requirement and about half of its consumption of natural gas, which is imported as LNG, or super-chilled gas. Despite depending on imported oil and gas, India is a net exporter of petroleum products due to its massive oil refining capacity, while it also imports some petroleum products like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).Around 40% of India’s crude oil imports, 60% of its LNG imports, and a whopping 90% of its LPG imports came from West Asia through the strait. Apart from grappling with physical supply tightness due to the Strait of Hormuz crisis, the resultant surge in international prices forced India to import oil and gas at extremely high rates, as the country has been prioritising supply security over price considerations.The June MoU between the US and Iran brought a sigh of relief for India and the global energy market, but the renewed conflict in the Gulf following the pact’s effective collapse is emerging as a major concern as energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz have crashed again after a short-lived three-week recovery.India’s oil & gas trade mathAccording to latest provisional data released by the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), crude oil imports in the June quarter rose 61.2% y-o-y to $49.8 billion, even as import volumes declined 4.5% to 59.8 million tonnes, or about 438 million barrels.This translates to about $113 per barrel as the average landed price of imported crude oil in the June quarter, up from around $67 per barrel in the corresponding quarter of last year. The PPAC data shows that India’s dependence on imported oil in April-June was 89.1%, flat on a y-o-y basis.As for LNG imports, while supplies declined 8.6% to 7,674 million standard cubic metres (mscm) in April-June from 8,396 mscm in the corresponding quarter of last year, the LNG import bill rose by almost 6% to $3.6 billion, reflecting the spurt in prices.Story continues below this adPetroleum product imports declined almost 42% in volume terms to 7.1 million tonnes, as supply of major petroleum products that India imports — like LPG — were impacted by the West Asia war. In value terms, the decline in petroleum product imports was relatively lower — down 27.6% to $4.2 billion — due to high international prices.India’s petroleum product export volumes declined by a fourth to 11.3 million tonnes in April-June from 15 million tonnes in the corresponding period of last year as domestic fuel supplies took precedence amid the global supply crunch. Nonetheless, the exports surged nearly 40% in value due to the jump in international petroleum fuel prices.Taking into account the overall oil, LNG, and petroleum product imports as well as fuel exports, the country’s net oil and gas imports rose 45.3% y-o-y in April-June to $44.9 billion, the PPAC data shows.Energy imports are a major component of India’s overall imports, and any meaningful increase has ramifications for the country’s trade balance, current account, inflation, and the rupee’s exchange rate, among others. For instance, India’s wholesale fuel and power inflation was 25% in April, 30.3% in May, and 27.4% in June, as per government data.Story continues below this adAs India imports 1.8-2 billion barrels of crude oil a year, every $1-per-barrel increase in oil prices bumps up the country’s oil import bill by up to $2 billion on an annualised basis. According to a March report by Nomura, India is among the three most vulnerable Asian economies to high oil prices in terms of import bill and current account balances, the other two being Thailand and South Korea. It said that every 10% oil price increase typically widens India’s current account deficit by 0.4% of the GDP.As per PPAC data, crude oil imports in 2025-26 stood at over $122 billion. If oil prices sustain at $100 per barrel in the current financial year and import volumes don’t decline notably, the oil import bill could be upwards of $200 billion for the year.Heavy dependence on energy imports has led to a double whammy of supply tightness and price surge. While highly diversified crude sourcing has helped in ensuring adequate oil, petrol, diesel, and jet fuel availability amid the West Asia crisis, some rationing of gas supplies to certain industries and commercial consumers was done in order to ensure adequate availability for households and a few priority sectors.