{"id":90624,"date":"2026-06-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/mena-india\/?p=90624"},"modified":"2026-06-17T09:55:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T09:55:32","slug":"how-indian-refiners-shifted-to-alternative-gulf-routes-to-avoid-strait-of-hormuz-risks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/mena-india\/2026\/06\/17\/how-indian-refiners-shifted-to-alternative-gulf-routes-to-avoid-strait-of-hormuz-risks\/","title":{"rendered":"How Indian refiners shifted to alternative Gulf routes to avoid Strait of Hormuz risks"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indian refiners are pulling back on their exposure to the volatile Strait of Hormuz<\/strong>, choosing instead to secure Gulf crude via alternative logistics routes. Local processors are increasingly routing barrels through bypass hubs like Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu and the UAE’s bunkering center at Fujairah to safeguard supply continuity, data shared by Kpler with EnterpriseAM reveals.<\/p>\n

India’s imports linked directly to the Strait of Hormuz fell off a cliff<\/strong>, plummeting from nearly 2.8 mn bbl \/ d in February to 738k bbl \/ d in March. The drop-off intensified during the Iran war, with volumes tapering to 247k bbl \/ d in April and just 179k bbl \/ d in May.<\/p>\n

Concurrently, volumes through other routes — including the bypass hubs of Fujairah in the UAE and Yanbu in Saudi Arabia<\/strong> — surged more than twofold, climbing from 767k bbl \/ d in March to 1.67 mn bbl \/ d in May.<\/p>\n

\"Inline<\/p>\n

Why it matters:<\/strong> India remains critically dependent on Gulf energy supplies, but its refiners are adapting. The data suggests that local processors are not swapping out traditional Gulf crude with standalone suppliers like Oman. Instead, they are leaning into a more diversified blending strategy and flexible maritime routing to maintain access to Gulf supply while steering clear of key maritime chokepoints.<\/p>\n

“Russian crude flows remained the dominant swing factor,”<\/strong> Sumit Ritolia, senior manager at Kpler, tells EnterpriseAM. Russian crude imports started at roughly 1.04 mn bbl \/ d in February (capturing a 20% market share), before ballooning to nearly 2.0 mn bbl \/ d in March to command 45% of the total basket. Flows moderated to 1.85 mn bbl \/ d in May, accounting for 38% of India’s inbound crude.<\/p>\n

Oman is gaining ground from a low baseline:<\/strong> Oman’s slice of India’s import pie sat at a negligible 0.5-0.8% across February and March, then rose to 2% in April and 5.1% in May (around 248k bbl \/ d). That makes Oman relevant to India’s Gulf diversification, but its volumes remain too small to be a replacement for larger suppliers.<\/p>\n

The UAE may be the stronger Gulf signal:<\/strong> Emirati crude flows recovered well after a brief March lull, outstripping Omani volumes. India snapped around 567k bbl \/ d of UAE crude in April and 579k bbl \/ d in May, making the UAE one of India’s largest crude sources, behind Russia. For Indian refiners, some UAE crude can also be linked to Fujairah, the export hub outside the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Saudi crude volumes were strong in February, at around 1.04 mn bbl \/ d, but fell to around 350k bbl \/ d by May.<\/strong> Iraq saw an even sharper contraction: shipments collapsed from nearly 970k bbl \/ d in February to 235k bbl \/ d in March, hit zero in April, and recovered to a negligible 32k bbl\/ d in May.<\/p>\n

“Another notable trend is the steady increase in Venezuelan crude imports,”<\/strong> Ritolia says.<\/p>\n

Indian imports of Venezuelan crude were at around 283k bbl \/ d in April and 266k bbl \/ d in May, giving refiners another heavy-sour crude option alongside Russian barrels.<\/p>\n

\"Inline<\/p>\n

The takeaway:<\/strong> The data shows refiners actively insulating themselves from direct Hormuz exposure by leveraging a complex mix of Russian supply, Emirati barrels, alternative transit routes, and tactical spot plays to keep their sourcing dynamic.<\/p>\n

What to watch next:<\/strong> With the dataset currently limited to the February-May window, it remains too early to classify this pivot as a permanent, structural realignment. The key indicator to watch over the summer months will be whether Yanbu, Fujairah, and Oman-linked flows hold onto their elevated shares or whether refiners drift back toward traditional Gulf configurations once regional freight, ins., and transit risks level out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kpler data shows a massive 90% plunge in direct Hormuz-linked crude imports as India turns to Yanbu, Fujairah, and an expanded supplier basket<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":90625,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2723],"tags":[2409,2958,2659,2722],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-90624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-big-story-today","tag-energy","tag-hormuz","tag-india-gcc-corridor","tag-the-big-story-today","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"full_issue_title":"How Indian refiners shifted to alternative Gulf routes to avoid Strait of Hormuz risks","teaser":"Kpler data shows a massive 90% plunge in direct Hormuz-linked crude imports as India turns to Yanbu, Fujairah, and an expanded supplier basket","mongo_id":"39d9882a923e4b973515523b","order":"2","related_issue":[90619],"story_type":"1"},"yoast_head":"\nHow Indian refiners shifted to alternative Gulf routes to avoid Strait of Hormuz risks - 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