India Sees Record LNG Imports Amid Hormuz Crisis

India's LNG imports have seen an increase of 15.4% in May-July compared to the same period last year, reaching 7.08 million tonnes. This growth is attributed to a diversified pool of sources, including the US, Oman, Nigeria, and Angola, which helped offset the loss of volume from the Strait of Hormuz.

The Strait of Hormuz has been heavily disrupted due to the conflict in West Asia, resulting in a significant decrease in imports from Qatar and the UAE. However, the US emerged as India's top source of LNG in May-July, with 2.19 million tonnes of supply, followed by Nigeria at 1.31 million tonnes, Oman at 1.22 million tonnes, and Angola at 0.80 million tonnes.

Sonal Ranjan, LNG and natural gas analyst at Kpler, noted that the Indian market has shown resilience in the face of high prices and demand destruction. She expects Asian spot LNG prices to remain higher near $19-20 per million British thermal units through the second half of the year, which may lead to price-sensitive sectors like industry and power losing competitiveness against alternative fuels.

Ranjan also warned that the prolonged disruption scenario around the Strait of Hormuz will force India to compete with Europe and Northeast Asia for a relatively smaller pool of LNG volumes.