India’s major state-run refiners, including Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL), have suspended crude oil loadings from Iraq as intensifying maritime attacks render transit through the Strait of Hormuz dangerously unsafe. The abrupt decision follows a series of projectile strikes on commercial vessels and oil tankers navigating the strategic chokepoint, forcing energy companies to reassess the risks of sending fully laden supertankers through the waterway. As part of the pullback, IOC abandoned plans to load two million barrels of crude onto the Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) Lila Jamnagar at Iraq’s Basrah Oil Terminal. Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways directed ship managers and maritime agencies to refrain from deploying Indian seafarers on vessels transiting the Strait until security conditions stabilize.
The operational halt highlights the vulnerability of India’s energy supply chain, given that the country imports more than 85% of its total crude requirements and relies heavily on Middle Eastern suppliers for its domestic refineries. Because Indian refiners typically purchase Iraqi crude under long-term contracts that require the buyer to arrange transport, skyrocketing freight rates, surging war-risk insurance premiums, and refusal by shipowners to navigate dark transponders have made lifting Iraqi crude economically and logistically unfeasible. While Iraq’s Oil Ministry acknowledged that multiple international buyers have canceled scheduled liftings, Indian refiners are actively assessing alternative supply routes and spot purchases from non-Gulf producers to prevent domestic fuel supply shocks.
