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Informist, Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

NEW DELHI – Seeking to ease fears of oil supply shocks from the current geopolitical flare-up in West Asia and Iran reportedly considering to close the Strait of Hormuz, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India's supplies were stable, with oil imports coming through diverisfied routes. "We have diversified our supplies in the past few years and a large volume of our supplies do not come through the Strait of Hormuz now," Puri wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter. 

 

Hormuz is the only marine entryway into the Persian Gulf. It splits Iran on one side and Oman and the United Arab Emirates on the other, and links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea in the Indian Ocean. 

 

Last week, Global Trade Research Initiative founder Ajay Srivastava had said that this narrow waterway was "indispensable to India", which depends on imports for over 80% of its energy needs. "Any closure or military disruption in the Strait of Hormuz would sharply increase oil prices, shipping costs, and insurance premiums--triggering inflation, pressuring the rupee, and complicating India's fiscal management," he had said in a note. 

 

Puri, however, said India's oil marketing companies have supplies of several weeks and continue to receive energy supplies from several routes. "Out of the 5.5 million barrels of crude oil that India consumes daily, about 1.5-2 million come through the Strait of Hormuz. We import roughly 4 million barrels through other routes," Puri said. 

 

Tensions in West Asia rose after Israel struck several Iranian military and scientific targets, including nuclear facilities, on Jun. 13 as part of 'Operation Rising Lion' to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Iranian media reported multiple explosions in the country, including at its biggest nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Israel has since declared an emergency in anticipation of retaliation by Iran.

 

The situation escalated after the US attacked three nuclear sites in Iran on Sunday – Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. "A full payload of bombs was dropped on the primary site, Fordow," US President Donald Trump wrote on social media.

 

Following Israel's attack on Iran, crude oil prices had surged over 13% to $78.50 per barrel on Jun. 16, the highest level since Jan. 27, due to worries about potential disruption in supply of crude oil as the conflict intensified. Iran holds over 9% of the world's crude oil reserves and currently produces over 3% of the world's crude oil output. 

 

Washington's involment in the matter has sent fresh jitters across markets, leading to crude oil prices hitting a five-month high of $81.39 per barrel on Monday. At 0839 IST, the August contract of the Brent crude oil was at $78.44 per barrel.   

 

Oil Minister Puri said the government has been closely monitoring the evolving geopolitical situation over the last two weeks. "We will take all necessary steps to ensure stability of supplies of fuel to our citizens," he said. 

 

Following the latest attack on Iran, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday, expressing deep concern at the recent escalations. "Reiterated our call for immediate de-escalation, dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward and for early restoration of regional peace, security and stability," Modi wrote on X. 

 

India has crucial trade relations with the US and a much smaller degree of trade with Iran. New Delhi's total exports to Washington in 2024-25 (Apr-Mar) were at $86.51 billion, making up 20% of India's total outbound shipments. To Tehran, New Delhi's total exports totalled $1.24 billion in FY25. India's imports from the US in the same period were at $45.69 billion and those from Iran totalled $442 million.  End

 

US$1 = INR 86.71

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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