India's LNG, crude imports from US may rise

As Washington tightens its trade stance through high tariffs and penalties on imports from India, New Delhi may seek to counterbalance the impact by offering trade arrangements.

- ARUNIMA BHARADWAJ

These could include long-term LNG contracts, increased crude oil imports, and joint ventures in solar and renewable energy sectors to ease the tariff burden.

Industry experts believe that India has scope to expand its long-term LNG offtake agreements with the US, while potentially lowering import duties on US LNG.

As Indian refiners diversify their crude sourcing and pivot away from Russian supplies, the country could increase its imports from the US, which is already its fifth largest supplier. Indian refiners could reallocate part of their crude slate back to US barrels such as WTI Midland and Eagle Ford—provided economics justify the move.

"India is already a growing offtaker of the US LNG, with long-term contracts in place with exporters like Cheniere and Freeport. While US LNG currently holds a modest share of India's gas mix, expanding volumes or prepaying for future offtake would signal strong commercial alignment—especially as new US liquefaction projects seek demand security," said Sumit Ritolia, lead research analyst, Refining & Modeling at Kpler.