The closure of the Strait of Hormuz (SoH), which accounts for almost two-thirds of India’s LPG supply, severely disrupted cargo shipments of the critical cooking fuel, with imports losing 430,000 barrels per day (kb/d) during March-April 2026.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), in its latest commentary on the impact of the West Asia conflict on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) flows, pointed out that the conflict triggered a global energy crisis of unprecedented magnitude.

At the centre of this sits LPG, the world’s most widely used cooking fuel. Around 3.4 billion people in the developing world use LPG as their primary cooking fuel. As of 2025, 30 per cent of all seaborne LPG exports transited through the SoH, it emphasised.

India’s LPG imports halve amid conflict impact

“India’s LPG imports have been particularly affected, dropping by more than half over the first two months of the conflict, a loss of around 430 kb/d,” said the IEA.

The government responded by instructing domestic refineries to maximise LPG output, adding an estimated 180 kb/d. Additional demand-side measures have been introduced to limit the impact on household cooking, it added.

Supply diversification and logistical challenges

Companies have also secured some supplementary supply from alternative sources, but a vessel from the United States needs around 40 days to reach Mumbai, compared with 4 to 5 days from the Strait of Hormuz.

The amount of LPG India can hold in storage, meanwhile, covers just over 10 days of consumption, providing only a limited buffer during supply disruptions. The reported impacts include commercial consumers being unable to access their pre-conflict LPG volumes, and both commercial and household consumers facing significantly higher prices in unregulated markets.

Sharp fall in shipments through Strait of Hormuz

In March 2026, the IEA said that as shipping flows through the SoH plunged amid the Middle East conflict, the volumes of LPG exported through the strait fell by around 80 per cent, dropping from 1.5 million barrels per day (mb/d) on average in 2025 to 0.3 mb/d.

Almost all of the LPG exported from the Middle East in 2025 was delivered to Asia. Nearly 60 per cent of the volumes exported to Asia served cooking needs across households, restaurants, street food vendors and other commercial or public establishments. This amount was sufficient to meet the cooking needs of 820 million people.

Industrial usage and regional supply risks

The remainder was mostly used for water heating and as a feedstock in the petrochemical industry, a segment dominated by China, where there is some flexibility to switch to alternative feedstocks when more cost-effective.

“Known damage to LPG-related infrastructure sites in Qatar, Oman and Iran has already resulted in a production loss of around 170 kb/d. Eight additional LPG-related sites in the region have reportedly been hit, but the full extent of the damage to them is unknown at this stage,” the commentary noted.

Prices for LPG imports surged sharply across all major benchmarks in March, with India and East Africa peaking at 90 per cent above their 2025 average and West Africa at 70 per cent above, it added.

Published on May 16, 2026