New Delhi: India's net oil and gas import bill climbed to USD 17.5 billion in May 2026 from USD 10 billion a year earlier, a rise of 75 percent, as the conflict in West Asia kept crude oil prices well above year-ago levels, official data showed. According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC), the Indian basket crude oil price averaged USD 106.23 per barrel in May 2026, up from USD 64.04 per barrel in May 2025, about two-thirds higher year-on-year.
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Brent moved on a similar track, averaging USD 107.55 per barrel against USD 64.22 a year earlier.
The price surge tracks the escalation of the West Asia conflict. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that carries a substantial share of global seaborne crude, removed supply equivalent to a fifth of the world's oil and roiled markets. India, which imports the bulk of the crude it processes, is among the economies most exposed to such swings.
A depreciating rupee added to the strain. The rupee averaged Rs 95.60 to the US dollar in May 2026, against full-year averages of Rs 88.31 in 2025-26 and Rs 84.57 in 2024-25, data showed. With crude priced in dollars, the softer currency meant each barrel cost more in rupee terms, leaving the import bill squeezed from both higher dollar prices and a weaker rupee.
The jump was driven almost entirely by price and currency rather than quantity. Crude oil import volumes were broadly steady at 21.6 MMT in May 2026, up about 1.1 percent year-on-year, but their value rose to USD 18.7 billion from USD 10.3 billion, an increase of roughly 82 percent.
Petroleum product imports fell to 2.9 MMT, down 31.7 percent year-on-year, valued at USD 1.7 billion. LNG imports were valued at USD 1.1 billion, while petroleum product exports stood at USD 3.9 billion during the month.
Counter-intuitively, even as crude prices softened month-on-month, with the Indian basket falling from USD 114.48 per barrel in April to USD 106.23 in May, and Brent declining from USD 120.55 to USD 107.55, the net import bill rose from USD 14.7 billion in April to USD 17.5 billion in May, an increase of about 19 percent.
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Crude has come off sharply since the May reporting period. By mid-June, Brent has fallen to around USD 83 per barrel, roughly 13 percent below the prior week, as markets reacted to an agreement between the United States and Iran and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Flows through the Strait were already recovering in early June, climbing from a May low toward about 12 million barrels a day.