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Short, verified market news summaries; every item names its source and publication date.
Pakistan's Five Refineries Set to Sign $6 Billion Upgrade Agreements
According to Pakistani daily Business Recorder, carried by Oilprice.com on Friday, 6 Shahrivar 1405 (August 28, 2026), Pakistan's five oil refineries, PARCO, Pakistan Refinery Limited, National Refinery Limited, Cnergyico and Attock Refinery Limited, are expected to sign agreements in early September under the country's Refinery Upgradation Policy, unlocking as much as $6 billion in investment. Pakistan's Federal Minister for Petroleum, Ali Pervaiz Malik, said the upgrades will let refineries begin producing Euro 5 compliant, ultra low sulfur fuel and reduce Pakistan's reliance on fuel imports. Oilprice.com noted that since the Iran war disrupted oil and fuel supply from West Asia, Pakistan has paid record premiums for fuel imports and its highest LNG cargo prices since 2022.
Oilprice.com, citing بیزینسریکوردر
India's Oil Import Costs Jump as Hormuz Crisis Sends Freight Rates Up 411 Percent
India's crude oil import bill has risen sharply since the Iran war began in late February and Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, Oilprice.com reported. Freight rates for VLCC tankers on the Ras Tanura to India route have jumped 411 percent to 4.34 dollars a barrel in August 2026, from 0.85 dollars a barrel before the war. War risk insurance for a single Hormuz passage has climbed from about 250,000 dollars before the war to as much as 10 million dollars per crossing. Brent crude prices have risen about 25 percent since the war began and have spiked above 100 dollars on several occasions, according to the report. India paid 60 percent more for crude imports in the April to June quarter than a year earlier, and its July import bill was 41 percent higher year on year.
Oilprice.com
India's Russian oil imports hit a record 2.6 million barrels a day amid the Gulf crisis
According to Donya-e-Eqtesad, reporting Monday, Shahrivar 2, 1405 (August 24, 2026) on Financial Times coverage citing Kepler senior analyst Sumit Ritolia, India imported more than 2.6 million barrels a day of Russian oil on average in June and July 2026, up from just 1 million barrels a day in February, when U.S. and Israeli operations against Iran began. Russian oil now accounts for more than half of India's roughly 5 million barrel a day crude imports, the highest level since the war started. The report said the sharp drop in oil transiting the Strait of Hormuz has again pushed India, which relies on imports for more than 90 percent of its oil and gas needs, toward Russian crude, despite U.S. exemptions issued for the purchases.
Donya-e-Eqtesad, citing Financial Times and مؤسسه کپلر
India to Roll Out Piped Gas Incentive Scheme From September 1 to Ease Iran War Driven LPG Cost Surge
India's government has approved an Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Domestic PNG Connections, effective from September 1, 2026 (10 Shahrivar 1405), aimed at fast tracking the expansion of piped natural gas (PNG) connections in Indian households, as the cost of importing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has soared since the Iran war cut off part of Middle East supply. According to Oilprice.com, published Tuesday, 26 Mordad 1405 (August 18, 2026), about 60% of Indian households rely on LPG for cooking, and before the war 90% of India's LPG imports passed through the Strait of Hormuz, so the route's disruption has directly pressured Indian consumers. Under the new scheme, city gas distributors will be allocated an additional 200 standard cubic meters of cheaper, domestically produced gas for every incremental PNG connection, to substitute costlier imported LNG. The scheme will run in two tranches over six months.
Oilprice.com
Pakistan Sets Record Spot LNG Buying to Keep Power Flowing, Generation Costs Jump 38%
According to an analysis by research firm Arif Habib Limited published by Oilprice.com on Tuesday, August 18, 2026 (27 Mordad 1405), Pakistan's power generation costs rose 38 percent in July from a year earlier. With regular cargoes from term supplier Qatar disrupted by the renewed closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Pakistan was forced to buy LNG on the spot market at the highest prices in four years. State-run importer Pakistan LNG Limited accepted a mid-July offer from TotalEnergies for a cargo priced as high as $21.88 per million British thermal units, the most Pakistan has paid for a single cargo since the Iran war began in February 2026. Power generation also rose 7 percent in July, the second highest output for that month in the country's history.
Oilprice.com, citing Arif Habib
Russia's Share of India's Oil Imports Hit a Record Above 50% in July
According to Oilprice.com, citing Reuters, in a report published Friday, August 14, 2026 (23 Mordad 1405), Russian crude accounted for more than 50 percent of India's total oil imports in July, the highest share Russia has ever recorded in India's import mix. Trade sources cited by Reuters said Russia exported crude to India at a rate of about 2.47 million barrels a day in July, up 62.4 percent from a year earlier and representing 50.83 percent of total oil imports into India, the world's third largest oil buyer. July's volume was nonetheless a slight decline from June's average of 2.6 million barrels a day. The shift comes as Western sanctions on Russian oil exports and reduced Persian Gulf oil flows tied to the Strait of Hormuz crisis have reshaped the buying patterns of India and other major Asian importers in recent months.
Oilprice.com, citing Reuters
Two New Sites Weighed to Expand India's Strategic Petroleum Reserves
According to Oilprice.com, in a report published Thursday, 22 Mordad 1405 (August 13, 2026), India's state-owned Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL) is finalizing feasibility studies for two new strategic reserve sites, one at Bikaner in Rajasthan and another at Bina in Madhya Pradesh. Indian media said the plans would add to a separate project by state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to build a roughly 13 million barrel storage site at Mangaluru. Following the disruption of crude flows through the Strait of Hormuz, India, whose current reserve capacity covers only about eight days of national demand, is seeking to bolster its energy security. India's Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi, earlier told parliament that half of the new Mangaluru capacity would be reserved for strategic storage and half for ONGC's commercial operations, a project the Economic Times had previously reported carries an estimated investment of $1.6 billion.
Oilprice.com
Indian State Refiners Seek 6 Million Barrels of Spot Crude to Bypass Hormuz Disruption
According to a Reuters report carried by Oilprice.com on Wednesday, August 12, 2026 (21 Mordad 1405), two Indian state refiners, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL), are together seeking to buy 6 million barrels of crude oil via spot tenders, as their term deliveries have been constrained by the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis. HPCL is seeking up to 4 million barrels for September and October delivery, while MRPL wants spot crude for the October 10 to 20 window and has asked suppliers to avoid cargoes that need to transit the Strait of Hormuz or the Red Sea. MRPL became the first Indian refiner to set that condition for suppliers at the end of July. In recent weeks, India's state refiners have also increased purchases from West Africa; last week MRPL bought about 1 million barrels of Omani crude from Mitsui at a premium of about $3 a barrel to Dated Brent, and state run Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) bought 4 million barrels of West African crude, including Nemba, Saxi Batuque and Djeno grades, from Chevron.
Oilprice.com, citing Reuters
India's ONGC set to take over operatorship of two Venezuelan oil projects from PDVSA
India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), through its overseas arm ONGC Videsh, is preparing to sign new agreements to take over operatorship of two oil projects in Venezuela from state owned PDVSA. According to an exclusive Reuters report published Wednesday, 14 Mordad 1405 (5 August 2026), ONGC Finance Director Anupam Agarwal said on the company's June quarter earnings call that it now has "full freedom" to pursue Venezuela opportunities after sanctions related constraints eased. ONGC Videsh currently holds a 40% stake in the San Cristobal oil field and, with other Indian firms, an 18% interest in the Carabobo-1 heavy oil project. According to Kpler data cited by Bloomberg, Venezuela's crude exports fell 25% in July from the prior month to about 856,000 barrels per day, after shipments to India were roughly halved from June as improving Middle East oil supply reduced Asian demand for discounted Venezuelan barrels.
Reuters (منتشرشده در اویلپرایس)
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.
Oilprice.com
India weighs levies on gas and LPG to fund a $42 billion strategic fuel reserve plan
Oilprice.com reported on Wednesday 5 August 2026, citing the Business Standard newspaper, that India's government is considering levies on natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) consumption to fund part of a $42 billion strategic fuel reserve programme. The levies would raise about $1.5 billion a year. The proposal includes a levy of 1.29 rupees ($0.0136) per kilogram of LPG, expected to generate roughly $460 million a year, and 1.43 rupees per standard cubic metre of natural gas, raising about $1 billion annually at current consumption. Unlike India's existing strategic petroleum reserve system, the plan would create dedicated emergency stockpiles for LNG and LPG alongside additional crude storage, with the decade long programme targeting capacity covering roughly two months of crude oil and LNG demand and about six weeks of LPG consumption. India estimates it needs an additional 28 million tonnes of crude storage capacity, 9 million tonnes for LNG and 4 million tonnes for LPG over the next decade. It currently has 5.33 million tonnes of government owned strategic crude storage with a further 6.5 million tonnes under construction, but no dedicated strategic reserves for LNG or LPG, and its existing emergency reserves cover less than 10 days of demand, against around 100 days in Japan and South Korea according to Reuters. The proposal has not yet received cabinet approval and, if adopted, would raise household gas bills by about 2%.
Oilprice.com
India's Russian crude imports hit a record 2.8 million barrels per day in July, 55.5% of its total intake
According to Kpler vessel tracking data cited by the Times of India on Monday 3 August 2026, India's crude oil imports from Russia rose to 2.8 million barrels per day in July 2026, up from the previous high of 2.7 million bpd in June and the highest average monthly volume ever recorded. Total Indian crude imports edged up from June to stand at just over 5 million bpd in July, putting Russia's share of India's overall crude imports at 55.5%. Indian refiners have continued to rely on Russian volumes amid threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and, more recently, at the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. Alongside the record Russian volumes, Indian refiners also boosted imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, as millions of barrels made it out of the Persian Gulf during the mid June to mid July window in which the Strait of Hormuz was tentatively open to tanker traffic. India also imported crude from Kuwait for the first time since March. The United Arab Emirates remained India's second largest crude supplier behind Russia, as it raises production and shipments of crude loaded on tankers outside the Strait of Hormuz. India maintained high levels of Russian imports in July even after the end of the US waiver the previous month: Washington quietly let the waiver allowing purchases of Russian oil loaded on tankers expire on 17 June, as the United States and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding to continue negotiations on a deal.
Oilprice.com, citing Kpler and تایمز آو ایندیا
India's Manali refinery to raise capacity by a third to 280,000 barrels per day
India's Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) said in its 2025/2026 report, reported on Monday 3 August 2026, that it plans to raise crude refining capacity at its Manali refinery in Chennai by a third, from 210,000 barrels per day to 280,000 barrels per day. The company did not give a timeline for the expansion. CPCL is a subsidiary of India's top state controlled refiner, Indian Oil Corporation, and the Manali plant produces fuels, lubricants, waxes and petrochemicals. The company's smaller Cauvery Basin Refinery in Nagapattinam was decommissioned in 2019 because its existing configuration could not meet product specifications. CPCL had planned to rebuild it, but earlier this year shifted the plan's focus from a refinery to a petrochemicals complex, a project in which Indian Oil Corporation holds a 75% stake. According to the International Energy Agency's World Energy Investment 2026 report, planned expansions of oil refining capacity are set to lead India's energy investment this year and in the coming years, alongside solar installations. India's energy investment has risen by an average of 11% over the past five years, with oil refining investment up 23%, putting the country on track for a 15% increase in refining capacity by 2030. India is one of Asia's largest oil buyers and a key driver of global crude demand.
Oilprice.com
Pakistan's state oil company signs a deal with a Canadian firm to lift domestic heavy crude output
Pakistan's state owned Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC) said on Tuesday 4 August 2026 that it had signed an agreement with Canada's Synergetic Oil Tools Inc to deploy advanced Passive Energy Tool technology at heavy crude oil fields. The company said the technology is designed to improve flow assurance in highly viscous crude oil wells by optimising fluid characteristics, reducing the frequency of workovers, minimising well downtime, lowering operating costs and decreasing the use of production chemicals. OGDC holds the largest exploration acreage in Pakistan and has the country's highest oil and gas reserves, producing about 166,497 barrels of oil equivalent per day. That output is nearly 49% of domestic crude oil production, 28% of Pakistan's natural gas and 34% of its liquefied petroleum gas. Key fields under its management include Qadirpur, Nashpa, Mela, KPD-TAY and Bettani. Islamabad has been scrambling for oil supply since the Iran war began, and is seeking to raise domestic crude output to reduce its reliance on imports. It is also encouraging Persian Gulf producers to set up crude reserve buffers at a planned Energy City near one of its ports. Pakistan is one of Iran's trading neighbours, and the shape of its energy supply bears on cross border commerce between the two countries.
Oilprice.com
India's ONGC more than doubles profit to $1.8 billion even as output falls 3.4%
India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) reported net income of 170.34 billion rupees, about $1.8 billion, for the quarter ended June, in results reported on Tuesday, 4 August 2026 (13 Mordad 1405). The figure beat the 152.67 billion rupee average estimate compiled by Bloomberg. Revenue jumped 45% from a year earlier to 464.60 billion rupees. The driver was higher crude and natural gas prices together with a weaker rupee, which more than made up for another drop in production. The company earned 50.4% more on every barrel of crude it sold compared with a year earlier, while earnings from gas produced at legacy fields rose 5.4% and earnings from newer deepwater acreage jumped 61.5%. Standalone oil and gas output, by contrast, fell 3.4% to 9.4 million metric tons of oil equivalent as aging fields continued to decline and newer projects were slow to make up the difference. ONGC supplies about two thirds of India's oil and more than half of its gas. India still imports nearly 90% of the oil it consumes and about half its gas, a dependence highlighted by the supply disruption from the West Asia war. India's Russian crude imports hit a record 2.8 million barrels per day in July, accounting for 55.5% of total imports. The company also plans to build a 13 million barrel storage facility at Mangaluru, with half reserved for strategic stocks; India's existing strategic reserves cover only about eight days of demand.
Oilprice.com
Indian state refiner buys 2 million barrels of Nigerian crude to bypass the Hormuz bottleneck
India's state-owned refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has bought 2 million barrels of crude oil from Nigeria. Trading sources told Reuters on Tuesday, 4 August 2026 (13 Mordad 1405), that the company acquired Okwuibome and Utapate grades from commodity trader Glencore through a tender. The cargo will feed HPCL's refinery in the state of Rajasthan, which can process 180,000 barrels per day and in which Hindustan Petroleum holds a 74% stake, with the rest held by the Rajasthan state government. Since the start of the Iran war, Indian refiners have scrambled to replace lost West Asian supply with deliveries from producers farther away. India's imports of Russian crude have risen sharply in recent months, hitting an all-time high in July and accounting for more than half of the country's total crude imports, but the report says even that is not enough and refiners are seeking supply that does not have to transit West Asian chokepoints, from Angola in Africa to Venezuela in South America. HPCL managing director Vikas Kaushal had earlier told the Indian outlet Economic Times that the company received almost nothing from its term contracts in the first quarter because many cargoes were stuck on the western side of the Strait of Hormuz. India is the world's third largest crude oil importer, and the redirection of its purchases is one of the direct consequences of the Hormuz disruption for the global oil market.
Oilprice.com, citing Reuters
India to build a new 13 million barrel oil storage site after the Hormuz supply shock
India's state owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will build a new storage site at Mangaluru in the state of Karnataka on the Arabian Sea, with capacity of 1.75 million tonnes, or about 13 million barrels of oil. The plan was reported by Oilprice on Tuesday 4 August 2026. Suresh Gopi, India's Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, told parliament that half of the new capacity will be reserved for strategic storage and half will support ONGC's commercial operations, and that the project will be funded by ONGC itself. Indian media had earlier put the estimated investment at $1.6 billion. India is the world's third largest crude oil importer and has been looking for alternatives to West Asian supply since the war and the disruption of flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Its existing underground strategic petroleum reserve holds 5.33 million tonnes, or 39 million barrels, equal to only eight days of national consumption.
Oilprice.com
Indian Oil is seeking 50 percent stakes in very large gas carriers to cut the freight cost of US LPG
India's Indian Oil Corp. is seeking 50 percent ownership stakes in very large gas carriers, a first among Indian refiners. The news was published on Wednesday, 29 July 2026 (7 Mordad 1405), and follows India's plan to source up to a quarter of its LPG imports from the United States in 2027 and to reduce its exposure to charter-market freight rates. According to the report, Indian Oil is accepting bids for ships with carrying capacity between 80,000 and 93,500 cubic metres, and eligible vessels must be no more than 12 years old. A pre-bid meeting is set for 5 August and the deadline for commercial and technical bids is 7 September 2026. Acquired vessels will be registered under the Indian flag. In 2025 India sourced about 90 percent of its 21.85 million tonnes of LPG imports from West Asia, with imports covering 66 percent of domestic consumption. The war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz produced India's worst LPG shortage this year and exposed freight as the main constraint: cargoes from the US Gulf Coast travel a far longer route to India. India expects LPG imports to reach about 20 million tonnes next year.
OilPrice.com
India's refined product exports head for 1.55 million barrels a day in July, the second highest on record
According to data compiled by the commodity analytics firm Kpler and published in July 2026, India's exports of light and middle distillates are on track to reach about 1.55 million barrels a day this month, the second-highest level in Kpler's records dating back to 2017 and nearly double the 866,000 barrels a day recorded in May. A shortage of refined products across Asia following the Strait of Hormuz disruption has lifted refining margins, and Indian refiners, leaning on Russian crude, have been able to keep their operating rates high. At the same time, the Indian government roughly doubled export duties on diesel and jet fuel for the 16 to 31 July 2026 window, citing the Hormuz crisis. The diesel duty rose to 15.5 rupees per litre and jet fuel to 14.5 rupees, while the duty on gasoline was cut. Through its supply of refined products to regional markets, India has become a key player in filling West Asia's fuel gap.
Hydrocarbon Processing
South Asia Gas Crunch; Pakistan Holds Two Emergency LNG Tenders in Two Weeks
The disruption to Qatar's gas exports caused by the Hormuz war has left South Asia short of supply. By July 18 (27 Tir 1405), Pakistan had held its second emergency spot-LNG tender in two weeks as Qatari cargoes were cut off again. Pakistan sources about 99% of its LNG imports from Qatar and the UAE, leaving it highly exposed. In response to the shortage, India has rationed gas to its industrial sector and Pakistan has activated an emergency gas-management plan that prioritizes household use and has suspended about 78 million cubic feet per day of gas to the fertilizer sector. Analysts warn that a prolonged crisis could deepen power cuts and cut industrial output across the region.
Dawn
India's fuel exports hit a near 10-month high as refiners lean on Russian crude
India's exports of refined petroleum products reached a near 10-month high by mid-July 2026, as supply shortages caused by the Strait of Hormuz crisis lifted refiners' margins. Indian refiners imported about 2.6 million barrels a day of Russian crude this month, more than half of the country's total oil imports. At the same time, India's crude imports from West Asia fell in the second quarter to their lowest recorded level since 2013, according to Kpler vessel-tracking data. Indian refiners say they have secured enough crude for the next two months and are in no rush to resume West Asian purchases, even if transits through the Strait of Hormuz normalize. The shift matters for Iran, because India is one of Asia's key oil markets and the competition among sanctioned exporters such as Russia and Iran for Asian buyers is intensifying.
Business Today
India Bars Its Seafarers From Voyages Through the Strait of Hormuz
India's Directorate General of Shipping on Wednesday, July 15, ordered shipowners, ship managers and recruitment firms not to deploy any Indian seafarers on vessels whose routes pass through the Strait of Hormuz until further notice. The order states: "No deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages involving passage through the Strait of Hormuz until further orders." The decision followed the deaths of two Indian seafarers in separate attacks on commercial vessels near the waterway over the past three days. India is the world's third-largest supplier of seafarers, with more than 300,000 sailors working across global fleets; over 15,000 of them are currently stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly 20 percent of the world's oil and gas, and a shortage of crews could add further pressure on tanker traffic and energy shipping costs, including Iran's oil exports.
Al-Monitor