India depends heavily on imported energy. A significant portion of the crude oil and natural gas it buys from abroad travels through the Strait of Hormuz — one of the world’s most strategically sensitive waterways.

That exposure does not mean India is entirely reliant on the route. But it is large enough to raise a practical question for everyday consumers: what happens to petrol and LPG prices if tensions rise there?

To answer that, we need to look beyond headlines and trace how a cooking gas cylinder and a litre of petrol actually reach your home.

The fuel in your vehicle and the LPG cylinder in your kitchen may feel entirely local. But their journey often begins thousands of kilometres away — and sometimes passes through a narrow stretch of water just 33 kilometres wide.

How one LPG Cylinder and a litre of petrol connect India to the Strait of Hormuz

When you book an LPG cylinder or refill your bike with petrol, the transaction feels local. A delivery agent arrives. A fuel pump clicks. You pay and move on.

But part of what you’re paying for may have travelled through one of the most strategically important stretches of water in the world: the Strait of Hormuz.

This narrow sea passage, located between Iran and Oman, connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea. It is just about 33 km wide at its narrowest point — yet it carries nearly 20 million barrels of oil per day, roughly one-fifth of global petroleum liquids consumption, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

So what does that mean for India? How dependent are we on oil passing through this route — and should everyday consumers worry?

Let’s trace one LPG cylinder and one litre of petrol backwards to understand the answer.

Your LPG cylinder’s long journey

LPG — liquefied petroleum gas — is primarily a mix of propane and butane. While India produces some LPG domestically through refineries and gas processing plants, a significant share is imported.

India is among the world’s largest LPG markets, and domestic demand has grown steadily over the past decade due to expanded household access.

A large portion of India’s LPG imports has historically come from Gulf countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Cargoes from these producers must exit the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz before reaching India.

These cargoes travel on specialised gas carriers designed to transport liquefied petroleum gas under pressure. After exiting the Strait of Hormuz, the vessels cross the Arabian Sea and dock at Indian ports, where the LPG is unloaded into storage terminals. From there, it is sent to bottling plants, filled into cylinders and distributed to households.

This journey — from Gulf export terminal to Indian kitchen — can take days or even weeks, depending on shipping schedules and port logistics.

While India has begun diversifying its LPG sourcing — including long-term supply agreements with the United States that account for roughly 10% of annual imports — a majority of India’s imported LPG still originates from Gulf suppliers whose shipments transit the Strait of Hormuz.

That means a substantial share of the LPG used in Indian households remains linked to the stability of this route, even as diversification efforts gradually reduce that dependence.

Petrol starts as Crude Oil

Now let’s look at petrol.

Petrol does not arrive in India ready to pump. It begins as crude oil, which is processed in Indian refineries.

India imported 232.5 million tonnes of crude oil in FY2023–24, and crude import dependence rose to nearly 87.7%, according to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) reported by Business Standard and Mint.

Put differently, nearly nine out of every ten barrels of crude used in India come from overseas.

That crude oil is then refined into petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, LPG and other products.

You can think of it like a bakery that makes bread locally — but if almost all the flour is imported, the price of bread still depends on global wheat markets. Refining happens in India, but the raw material that determines cost begins its journey elsewhere.

India’s total petroleum product consumption in FY2023–24 stood at roughly 223 million tonnes, with........

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