India’s Russian-oil bill hit a record as Kharg loading and Iraqi exports resumed; Australia’s diesel reserve shows the war’s energy-security pressure reaching markets far from Hormuz.
Economics & Markets··Evening
India’s Russian crude bill hits another record
With the Strait of Hormuz closed, India’s crude imports from Russia climbed again to a record bill. According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, those imports were worth about 6.4 billion dollars in July, above June’s 5.14 billion dollars. CREA put the crude figure at 5.5 billion euros, up 2.1 per cent from June and a record for the second month running. The growth came from terminals other than Jamnagar and Paradip. India was the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels in July, at 6.4 billion euros total, with crude at 87 per cent of that. Russian oil product export loadings fell 23 per cent to 4.7 million tonnes, the lowest on record and under half the volume a year earlier. Urals crude averaged 60.22 dollars a barrel, down 3 per cent on the month and still well clear of the 44.1 dollar cap the European Union and the United Kingdom have kept since February. Refiners and analysts call Russia New Delhi’s strongest energy hedge since the Hormuz closure and Bab-el-Mandeb disruption.[1]
Loading resumes at Kharg as alternative routes expand
According to maritime intelligence firm Windward, a very large crude carrier began loading at Kharg Island’s western terminal on 12 August, the first shipment since 18 July. The island, 26 km off the coast, handles roughly 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports and ships mainly to China. Windward said Iran is rerouting around the Hormuz blockade rather than waiting for it to lift, pointing to the North Larak anchorage, which held 35 tanker and cargo vessels on 12 August, and to the Caspian route. Russian wet-cargo shipments to Iran rose 2.9 times, to about 437,000 barrels, in the 164 days after the blockade escalated on 28 February. TankerTrackers.com said liquefied natural gas exports have fallen and surplus gas is being burnt off. The Kharg restart does not lift the blockade; it shows which ports and anchorages still move exports, while Russia-Iran wet cargo rises outside the strait.[2]
Iraqi exports rebound while Australia watches its diesel reserve
Flows are rising again on the Iraqi side. Oil Minister Bassem Mohammed Khudair said exports have averaged 2 million barrels a day since early August, about 26 million barrels in the first half of the month, the first such rate since the crisis began. Before US and Israeli strikes on Iran disrupted Hormuz, Iraq produced about 4 million barrels a day and exported roughly 105 million barrels a month. SOMO head Ali Nizar put July exports through Hormuz at 35.5 million to 37 million barrels, with about 7 million more by pipeline to Turkey. The country shut in most field operations as reservoirs filled, and has since built alternative routes including tanker trucks through Syria and the Ceyhan pipeline. Away from the strait, Australia’s National Fuel Security Plan, worth 11.9 billion dollars, puts 3.2 billion dollars into stockpiling diesel and jet fuel, while 40 million dollars goes to electrifying Australia Post’s delivery fleet. The reserve held about 3.3 billion litres in August 2026. Per person, Australians use almost twice as much diesel as the US. A report commissioned by ARENA found that 98 per cent of transport operators are small and medium enterprises, that their median profit margin is 2 per cent, and that 70 per cent run a single truck. India’s turn to Russian crude, the Kharg and Iraqi rebounds, and Australia’s diesel reserve show the Hormuz shock rearranging oil flows and fuel-security plans near and far from the strait. The Australian figures are in local dollars.[3], [4]
