India ramps up US energy imports as Trump pushes balanced trade

Hindustan Times

5 days ago

Washington: India has dramatically increased its energy purchases from the US since Donald Trump returned to office in January, with crude oil imports surging 51% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, according to data cited by people aware of the trade specifics between the two nations. The surge follows a February agreement between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington, where both leaders committed to expanding energy cooperation. (PTI)
The energy buying spree reflects New Delhi's commitment to rebalance trade ties with Washington, a key demand of the Trump administration. Liquefied natural gas imports have nearly doubled from $1.41 billion in FY2023-24 to $2.46 billion in FY2024-25.
The surge follows a February agreement between Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington, where both leaders committed to expanding energy cooperation. India pledged to boost American energy imports to $25 billion from $15 billion in 2024, while bilateral trade is targeted to more than double from $200 billion to $500 billion by 2030.
'The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to increase energy trade, as part of efforts to ensure energy security, and to establish the United States as a leading supplier of crude oil and petroleum products and liquefied natural gas to India,' the joint statement said.
The momentum has accelerated significantly. Indian crude purchases from America jumped 114% to $3.7 billion in the first quarter of FY2025-26 from $1.73 billion in the same period the previous year. In July alone, imports rose 23% month-on-month, pushing America's share of India's total crude imports from 3% to 8%.
'This trend is increasing further from July this year. So, in July 2025 India imported 23% more crude oil from the US compared to June 2025,' said one of the people who analysed the data. 'Also, in India's overall crude imports, while the US share was earlier only 3%, in July that share increased to 8%.'
American LNG has emerged as particularly attractive to Indian companies. 'Buying LNG from America is a very attractive proposition for many Indian companies,' said Prashant Vashisht, senior vice president at ratings agency ICRA. 'Firstly, US LNG, which is priced based on the Henry Hub benchmark, is very competitive price-wise compared to other sources. Second, a large number of LNG projects are coming online in the United States, which will mean that more Indian companies will look closely at the American market for tying up long-term contracts.'
The timing aligns with America's plans to rapidly expand oil and gas exports. Trump reversed the Biden administration's pause on processing LNG export licences soon after taking office. The US Energy Information Administration expects North America's LNG export capacity to double by 2028, with America providing most of the increase.
India's growing appetite for American energy comes as the country is poised to become the world's largest driver of oil demand growth. The International Energy Agency estimates India will surpass China as the major driver of global oil demand growth by 2030, with LNG demand expected to jump 78% to reach 64 billion cubic metres annually.
'Additional long-term LNG contracts worth tens of billions of dollars are being discussed. Indian oil and gas majors are in discussions with their US counterparts for long-term purchase of US oil and gas,' another person familiar with the matter said. 'India considers the US as among the most reliable partners for India's energy security.'
However, energy ties remain a point of contention, particularly regarding India's continued purchases of Russian crude oil. The Trump administration has pressed New Delhi to reconsider its energy relationship with Moscow to pressure President Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.