Hormuz bottleneck pushes Indian refiners to Omani and West African crude, with 5 million barrels bought in the latest tenders

Oilprice.com reported on Wednesday 5 August 2026, citing trade sources who spoke to Reuters, that several Indian refiners have recently bought crude from Oman and West Africa through tenders, as term supplies from West Asia remain choked by shipping constraints at the Strait of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb.

State controlled Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals acquired about 1 million barrels of Omani crude at a premium of some $3 a barrel to Dated Brent from Mitsui. Indian Oil Corporation, the country's largest refiner by capacity, bought a total of 4 million barrels of West African crude from Chevron, including the Nemba, Saxi Batuque and Clov grades from Angola and Congo's Djeno. Earlier in the week, state owned Hindustan Petroleum bought 2 million barrels of Nigerian crude, the Okwuibome and Utapate grades, from Glencore.

According to the report, Indian refiners have been scrambling to replace lost West Asian supply since the start of the Iran war, and Indian imports of Russian crude hit an all time high in July, accounting for more than half of the country's total crude imports. Even so, that has not been enough, and Indian refiners are seeking supply that does not have to transit any West Asian chokepoint, looking as far afield as Angola and Venezuela.