{"id":169623,"date":"2026-04-03T19:04:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/169623\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T19:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:04:08","slug":"amid-global-uncertainties-due-to-iran-war-this-lesser-known-nation-emerges-as-indias-lifeline-for-oil-and-gas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/169623\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid global uncertainties due to Iran War, THIS lesser-known nation emerges as India\u2019s lifeline for oil and gas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Home<\/a> Business<\/a>Amid global uncertainties due to Iran War, THIS lesser-known nation emerges as Indias lifeline for oil and gas <\/p>\n

India no longer wishes to remain dependent on a single nation for its energy needs.<\/p>\n

\"Published
\n Updated: April 3, 2026 10:13 PM IST <\/p>\n

\"Iran
\n (REUTERS\/Francis Mascarenhas) <\/p>\n

New Delhi: Amidst rising global tensions\u2014including the situation in Iran, the Russia-Ukraine war, and pressure from Western nations\u2014India has revamped its oil procurement strategy. The African nation of Angola has now emerged as a key supplier for India. As it seeks to reduce its reliance on Russia, India is purchasing increased quantities of oil from Angola. Recently, India procured approximately 2 million barrels of crude oil from Angola. This purchase was executed by the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), comprising 1 million barrels each of the Hungo and Clov crude grades.<\/p>\n

Deal Facilitated Through ExxonMobil<\/p>\n

This deal was facilitated through ExxonMobil. Both of these crude varieties are considered highly suitable for Asian refineries, as they yield higher volumes of petrol and diesel upon processing. Following Nigeria, Angola ranks as Africa\u2019s second-largest oil-producing nation. The country boasts a daily output of approximately 1.1 million barrels of oil. Furthermore, it holds proven oil reserves totalling roughly 7.78 billion barrels. Consequently, it is becoming an increasingly vital partner for nations like India.<\/p>\n

India Shifts Its Strategy<\/p>\n

India no longer wishes to remain dependent on a single nation for its energy needs. For this very reason, it has ramped up its oil purchases from other countries as well. Notable acquisitions include Abu Dhabi\u2019s Murban crude from Shell, Upper Zakum crude from the Mercuria Group, and Brazil\u2019s Buzios crude from Petrobras. Through these measures, India is effectively securing and diversifying its energy supply chain.<\/p>\n

Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Russia briefly became India\u2019s largest oil supplier, primarily due to the discounted rates it offered. However, Russia subsequently faced the imposition of stringent international sanctions. As a result, India was compelled to recalibrate its procurement strategy.<\/p>\n

Add India.com as a Preferred Source\"Add<\/a>
\nImports from African Nations Rise<\/p>\n

The government has decided to explore alternative sources for gas and to increase purchases from Oman, Nigeria, and Angola. According to statistics, total LNG imports stood at 1.93 million tonnes in February 2026, which subsequently declined to 1.67 million tonnes in March 2026\u2014marking a decrease of approximately 13%. A significant drop was recorded in imports from Qatar, while imports from the US, Oman, Nigeria, and Angola increased (rising from 141,449 tonnes to 208,059 tonnes). Imports from the UAE also declined, clearly reflecting a shift in supply dynamics.<\/p>\n

Angola Emerges as Third-Largest Oil Supplier<\/p>\n

In March 2026, Angola emerged as the third-largest supplier of crude oil, witnessing the most significant increase in supply after Russia. According to the data, imports from Russia rose from 1,042 thousand barrels to 1,975 thousand barrels, while imports from Iraq dropped from 969 thousand barrels to 235 thousand barrels. Imports from Saudi Arabia also declined, falling from 1,036 thousand barrels to 572 thousand barrels. A decrease in imports was also observed from the UAE, the US, and Nigeria, whereas imports from Angola surged from 103 thousand barrels to 327 thousand barrels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Home BusinessAmid global uncertainties due to Iran War, THIS lesser-known nation emerges as Indias lifeline for oil and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[88616,1151,88620,5544,45136,2264,88619,301,88617,88618,63392,2263,122,5219,7893,5545,1297,584,6204,3712,24301,5822],"class_list":["post-169623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-angola","tag-african-nation","tag-angola","tag-clov","tag-diesel","tag-exxonmobil","tag-gas","tag-hungo","tag-india","tag-indian-oil-corporation","tag-ioc","tag-iran-war","tag-lng","tag-nigeria","tag-oil","tag-oman","tag-petrol","tag-qatar","tag-russia","tag-russia-ukraine-war","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-shell","tag-uae"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116342336014054507","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}