UAE beats Saudi to emerge India’s second-largest crude supplier in May in Freight News 04/06/2026 The United Arab Emirates (UAE) beat Saudi Arabia to emerge as the second-largest crude supplier to India in May after Russia, rerouting its oil as supplies through the Strait of Hormuz remained disrupted for a third straight month. India imported 540,000 barrels a day of crude from UAE, down 5 percent from April but 166 percent higher from March levels of 203,000 bpd, data from commodity analytics firm Kpler shows. Russia remained the largest supplier with crude imports climbing to 1.9 million bpd, up 23 percent from April. Russian imports surged 73 percent from January’s 1.08 bpd, driven by a US sanctions waiver. Saudi Arabia was the third-largest supplier with 398,000 bpd but arrivals plunged 41 percent from April due to continuous blockade of Hormuz, which used to be a key route for Indian energy imports from the oil-rich Gulf region before US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28. The oil from the UAE was routed through Fujairah and Saudi Arabia’s via Yanbu pipelines, which bypass Hormuz and have emerged as the critical routes for global energy imports. Spread over 1,200 km, Saudi Aramco’s East-West pipeline transports 5 mbpd from Abqaiq to the Yanbu port on the Red Sea, bypassing Hormuz. Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s 360-km Habshan-Fujairah pipeline can funnel 1.5 mbpd directly to the Gulf of Oman. Both pipelines are operating at full capacity as the conflict chokes energy exports through Hormuz. These alternative routes though offer some relief but remain insufficient to fully compensate for the loss of shipments through Hormuz, Sumit Ritolia, lead research analyst, refining and modelling at Kpler, has said. India is now also examining the feasibility of a direct energy pipeline arrangement with the UAE as part of a long-term strategy to reduce dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, sources earlier told Moneycontrol. Around 50 percent of India’s energ