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India paid an additional $22.5 billion for fossil-fuel imports between March and August 2026 as the Hormuz crisis drove up oil and gas prices, making it the second-most affected importing country globally after China and adding a fresh burden to the country’s energy import costs.
China faced the highest additional cost at $35.5 billion, followed by India at $22.5 billion and the US at $16.5 billion. The Netherlands paid an extra $13.5 billion, South Korea $13.2 billion, Italy $12.7 billion and Japan $12 billion.
Crude oil alone accounted for $164 billion of the additional global cost, with prices averaging a 35% premium over pre-conflict market expectations. Refined fuels saw even sharper increases. Diesel and gasoil prices were 59% higher, adding $74 billion, while gasoline prices rose 43%, adding another $36 billion.
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Six months after the Hormuz crisis began on February 28, disruptions to global shipping and energy markets have added more than $330 billion to fossil-fuel import bills, equivalent to around $55 billion a month, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report. It termed this the largest sustained fossil-fuel price shock since the 1990 Gulf War.
The estimate compares what importing countries actually paid for seaborne crude, fuels and gas with what markets had expected before the conflict. Importantly, it excludes higher freight charges and war-risk insurance, along with pipeline gas, coal, fuel oil and naphtha, meaning these costs are not captured in the headline estimate.
LNG prices were 60% above pre-war expectations in the Atlantic basin and 75% higher in the Pacific, adding $38 billion to global costs. Jet-fuel prices were up 59%, adding another $20 billion.
Diesel remained one of the most persistent pressure points. Of the 170 countries covered in the analysis, 134 paid more for diesel than pre-war futures had indicated. The diesel war premium stayed above 55% in five of the six months, easing to 43% in June before climbing back to 65% in August.
The impact has been sharper on poorer economies. Low- and lower-middle-income countries paid an additional 1% of their 2024 GDP because of higher fossil-fuel costs, more than twice the 0.45% burden on high-income countries.
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“Across every fossil fuel product, this crisis is a multi-car pile-up, and where you land depends on what you’re driving,” said Luke Wickenden, energy analyst at CREA. He said wealthier countries can absorb higher prices more easily in the short term, while lower-income economies are far more price-sensitive.
“Oil and gas prices have long proven to be an Achilles’ heel for both household finances and the global economy as a whole,” Wickenden said.
Clean-power capacity added since 2020 saved importing countries an estimated $36 billion in avoided coal, gas and oil imports during the first five months of the crisis, including $10.6 billion resulting specifically from avoiding wartime price premiums.
TOPICSStrait of HormuzThis article was first uploaded on August twenty-seven, twenty twenty-six, at twenty-five minutes past one in the night. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd