India among Asian countries most vulnerable to Strait of Hormuz blockade
Around 84 percent of oil passing through the Strait of Hormuz is destined for Asia, leaving the economies of China, India, South Korea and others vulnerable should Iran blockade the crucial trading route over US strikes on its nuclear sites.
Around 14.2 million barrels of crude oil and 5.9 million barrels of other petroleum products pass through the strait per day -- representing around 20 percent of global production in the first quarter, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).
And crude oil from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar and Iran almost exclusively passes through the corridor.
Here are the main Asian countries where oil exported via the strait is destined:
China
More than half of the oil imported by East Asia passes through the Strait of Hormuz, experts estimate.
China is one of the largest buyers, importing 5.4 million barrels of crude oil a day through Hormuz in the first quarter this year, according to the EIA.
Saudi Arabia is China's second-largest supplier of crude oil, accounting for 15 percent of its total oil imports -- 1.6 million barrels a day.
China also buys more than 90 percent of Iran's oil exports, according to the analysis firm Kpler.
It imported 1.3 million barrels of Iranian crude oil a day in April, down from a five-month high in March.
India
India is highly dependent on the Strait of Hormuz, importing 2.1 million barrels of crude a day through the corridor in the first quarter, EIA data shows.
Around 53 percent of India's imported oil in early 2025 came from Middle Eastern suppliers, particularly Iraq and Saudi Arabia, local media reported.
Wary of an escalating conflict in the Middle East, New Delhi has increased its imports of Russian oil over the past three years.
"We have been closely monitoring the evolving geopolitical situation in the Middle East since the past two weeks," India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Sunday.
"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," he wrote on X, adding "We will take all necessary steps to ensure stability of supplies of fuel to our citizens."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
24 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Iran's exiled prince Reza Pahlavi declares Khamenei's regime is collapsing
Published on Jun 24, 2025 02:10 AM IST In his first speech after the U.S. airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi sharply criticized Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, declaring that the Islamic Republic is 'collapsing' and urging Khamenei to step down and accept a fair trial. Watch for more
NDTV
27 minutes ago
- NDTV
Multiple Global Airlines Disrupted As Middle East Tensions Rise
Global airlines have suspended or reduced flights in the Middle East as the conflict between Israel and Iran rages after the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites at the weekend. The United States carried out strikes against Iranian nuclear sites overnight Saturday to Sunday after over a week of deadly missile exchanges between Israel and Iran. Here is the latest airline situation: -European airlines - British Airways cancelled flights between London's Heathrow Airport and Dubai and Doha on Sunday following the US strikes on Iran. The airline said Monday it was scheduled to operate those routes as normal, though there were some cancellations ahead of a clutch of evening flights. Air France halted flights to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates until at least Tuesday inclusive, the airline said. It also extended the suspension of the Paris-Tel Aviv route until July 14. Flights of Air France's low-cost carrier Transavia from Paris to Beirut have been suspended until June 30 while the Tel Aviv route is closed until September 7. Germany's Lufthansa group, whose other airlines include Swiss, Austrian and ITA, has suspended flights to the Middle East until June 30. The Amman and Erbil, Iraq, routes were also suspended until July 11. The group will not fly to Tel Aviv and Tehran will until July 31 and is also avoiding the air space of countries involved in the conflict. Greece's Aegean Airlines has stopped Tel Aviv flights until July 12. Its Amman, Beirut and Erbil routes are closed until June 28. Turkish airline Pegasus has scrapped flights to Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon until June 30, and Iran until July 30. Flag carrier Turkish Airlines on Monday cancelled its remaining flights for the day to Bahrain, Dammam, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Muscat. No Turkish Airlines flights to Baghdad, Damascus and Tehran are available before July 1. Finnair meanwhile confirmed it was suspending flights to Doha. The carrier is also staying out of the airspace of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Israel. - US and Canadian airlines - United Airlines has warned passengers that flights to and from Dubai scheduled between June 18 and July 3 may be affected and is offering no-fee ticket changes under certain conditions due to Middle East unrest. The US airline has implemented the same flexibility for Tel Aviv flights between June 13 and August 1, allowing customers to rebook for other major European cities. Air Canada has temporarily suspended its daily non-stop service from Toronto to Dubai starting June 18 and warned the suspension could be extended. Travel via a European stopover on a partner airline remains possible, according to its website. American Airlines is allowing customers to change their bookings to Doha without fees for travel originally scheduled between June 19 and July 20. - Asian airlines - Singapore Airlines has cancelled eight flights to Dubai -- two per day from Sunday through Wednesday.
NDTV
27 minutes ago
- NDTV
"Thank You For Giving Early Notice": Trump After Iran Targets US Air Base
US President Donald Trump signalled today that Iran's attempted air strike at the US-run Al Udeid air base in Qatar would not draw a retaliation from Washington. In a post on X a few hours after the attack, he expressed hope that Iran has "gotten it all out of their 'system' and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE". "Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same," read one of a series of posts from President Trump, who monitored the events from the Situation Room of the White House with his senior officials. The US President's post was also delivered with a jibe that the Iranian response to the US "obliteration" of its nuclear facilities was "very weak" - he said 14 missiles were fired by Tehran of which 13 were knocked down, "1 was set free because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction". He also thanked Tehran for the advance warning of the strikes - "I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured". Following the US attack on Iranian nuclear enrichment sites over the weekend under Operation Hammer, Iran's armed forces had threatened earlier on Monday to inflict "serious, unpredictable consequences" on the US. Iran has said its action is response to the "aggressive and shameless attack by the United States on Iran's nuclear facilities and sites". "Whoever has assaulted you, then assault him in the same way that he has assaulted you... The number of missiles used in this successful operation was equal to the number of bombs the United States used in its assault on Iran's nuclear facilities," read a statement from the Secretariat of Iran's Supreme National Security Council. While announcing the US attack over the weekend, President Trump had said, "NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE!" "We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. All planes are now outside of Iran air space. A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow. All planes are safely on their way home. Congratulations to our great American Warriors. There is not another military in the World that could have done this. NOW IS THE TIME FOR PEACE! Thank you for your attention to this matter," his post had read. The attack Iran had launched its attack on the US base in Qatar two days after the US offensive on Iranian nuclear enrichment this evening, explosions rang out from across Qatar's capital. Qatar said it had advance information from Iran about the air strikes and there was no casualty since the missiles were intercepted by its air defence system. But it condemned the attack as a clear breach of its sovereignty, airspace, and international law. "We express the State of Qatar's strong condemnation of the attack on Al Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and consider it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar's sovereignty and airspace, as well as of international law," foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement. The Al Udeid base is home to US Centcom headquarters and British military personnel also serve there on rotation, reports said.
