Sunita Somvanshi
### How the Iran War Rewired India’s Energy Supply Chain
Iran war disrupted 85% of India’s LPG imports from West Asia in the span of four months. The supply line through the Strait of Hormuz, which historically provided liquefied petroleum gas from multiple Middle Eastern exporters, contracted sharply after February 28, 2026. India’s response was pragmatic: buy from the United States.
In January 2026, U.S. LPG accounted for roughly 10% of India’s total LPG import volume. By August 2026, it represented 67%. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri disclosed the figures in briefings to the media on August 11 and August 7, 2026. The scale of the reorientation is striking. India consumes LPG for heating, cooking, and industrial use across urban and rural areas. Households depend on LPG cylinders for cooking fuel. A supply shock could ripple across the entire economy.
The Hormuz chokepoint is where the disruption hit. Roughly 60% of India’s liquefied natural gas and nearly all of its liquefied petroleum gas transit the Strait of Hormuz. When supplies from West Asia dried up, India faced an immediate shortage. U.S. exporters had available production and export capacity. American LPG shipments increased rapidly to fill the void. By mid-2026, India had negotiated supply arrangements with U.S. producers and secured port throughput capacity.
Indian importers accepted the U.S. product at a premium because scarcity forced acceptance, though the landed cost of American LPG is higher than West Asian supply once freight is included. [The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com) and [NDTV Profit](https://www.ndtv.com) documented the supply-chain reorientation, while [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com) analyzed the strategic implications.
India simultaneously imports roughly 60% of its LNG (liquefied natural gas) through the same Hormuz corridor. While this story focuses on LPG, the LNG disruption was equally serious. If the Iran war had extended to a blockade of the Strait—a scenario discussed but not ultimately executed—India’s energy systems would have faced catastrophic shortages. The fact that India pivoted to U.S. LPG so quickly suggests contingency planning was already underway, possibly in anticipation of escalation.
The supply-chain reorientation raises strategic questions. Does India now have an alternative to Middle Eastern LPG that it can access in future disruptions? Yes—but at higher cost and with shipping lead times that preclude rapid emergency supplies. A second disruption would not yield the same rapid pivot. Will India seek to diversify its LPG sources away from the United States to reduce dependence on any single exporter? Likely, but options are limited. India may be compelled to live with elevated costs and Hormuz-dependent supply for the foreseeable future. The broader context of global [energy security challenges](https://www.karmactive.com/china-controls-one-third-of-2-2-trillion-global-clean-energy-investment-outspending-us-and-eu-combined/) underscores this fragility, while innovations like [carbon capture technologies](https://www.karmactive.com/aramco-and-siemens-energy-ag-crafting-the-next-step-in-carbon-capture-innovations/) remain central to long-term energy transitions.
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In six months, U.S. LPG went from 10 percent to 67 percent of India’s supply after the Iran war severed West Asian flows. The pivot eased a shortage but raised landed costs — a reminder of how quickly energy security can hinge on a single trade route. [Photo: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0]
Alt text: A Bharat-branded LPG cooking gas cylinder used in Indian households.
Title: Bharat LPG gas cylinder, Tamil Nadu
