First India-Bound LNG Tanker Reaches Gujarat via Hormuz as Oman Fills the Qatar Gap

First India-Bound LNG Tanker Reaches Gujarat via Hormuz as Oman Fills the Qatar Gap India's April LNG imports recovered to 1.95 million tonnes from 1.67 million in March, but Qatari deliveries collapsed 94% while Omani supply tripled. The first India-bound LNG tanker to transit the Strait of Hormuz since the war began arrived in Gujarat, marking a physical resumption of supply on a route that had been closed for nearly three months. The crossing came as India scrambled to replace lost Qatari and Emirati volumes by sourcing emergency spot cargoes from suppliers that do not depend on the strait.⁸ The supply rerouting is visible in the import data. India's April LNG imports were 1.95 million tonnes, up from 1.67 million tonnes in March, according to Kpler data. But on a year-on-year basis, April volumes were down 9.3% from 2.15 million tonnes. The recovery from March's low was real. The gap against 2025 levels was not closed.⁸ Qatar, India's largest LNG supplier in 2025 with average monthly flows of 0.95 million tonnes, delivered just 0.06 million tonnes in March-April combined. The UAE, the second-largest supplier at 0.27 million tonnes monthly, managed only 0.13 million tonnes across the same two months. The collapse was near-total.⁸ Oman filled part of the gap. As India's fourth-largest LNG supplier in 2025 with average monthly volumes of 0.18 million tonnes, Oman's deliveries jumped to 1.2 million tonnes in March-April combined, or 0.6 million tonnes per month. US LNG to India also rose, averaging 0.31 million tonnes monthly in March-April against a 2025 average of 0.24 million tonnes.⁸ But the Hormuz deal, even if it holds, means little for LNG without a Qatari production restart, analysts told Montel. Iranian strikes on Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial complex disrupted about 12.8 million tonnes of LNG capacity, roughly 17% of the country's total exports. The damage is physical. Reopening the strait does not repair the trains.^1,4 The tanker-by-tanker picture reinforces the scepticism. QatarEnergy shipped its first LNG vessel through Hormuz since the war began, an event an analyst called an important milestone. Kpler vessel tracking confirmed the Al Kharaitiyat entered the Arabian Sea bound for Pakistan.⁶ Then the Mihzem turned back. A second Qatari LNG vessel carrying 178,000 cubic metres made an apparent U-turn while attempting the same crossing, Kpler data showed. One through, one back. The strait is passable for individual cargoes under negotiated conditions. It is not open for commercial traffic at scale.² Earlier in the crisis, a non-laden Omani vessel edged toward Hormuz hugging the coastline, testing the route without cargo risk. Ronald Pinto, a principal analyst, said his firm was following closely. The approach has been incremental. Ballast tests, then single laden crossings, then a U-turn.⁷ The UAE is building bypass infrastructure. ADNOC already operates the Habshan-Fujairah pipeline with capacity of 1.8 million barrels per day. The UAE is fast-tracking a second pipeline to bypass Hormuz entirely. Last year, it exported 1.7 million barrels per day of crude and refined fuels through the existing route. But pipelines move oil, not LNG. There is no pipeline bypass for liquefied gas.^5,3 The UAE's exit from OPEC adds another dimension. Before the war, UAE production capacity had grown to 4.8 million barrels per day under an OPEC agreement that limited output to 3.2 million. If traffic returns to pre-war levels, the UAE could flood the market with 1.6 million barrels per day of spare capacity, equivalent to roughly 1.5% of global supply.³ What to watch is whether the India-Gujarat tanker arrival is followed by a second laden crossing within the week, and whether Oman's emergency supply surge sustains above 0.5 million tonnes monthly. If Qatar's production remains 17% impaired regardless of strait access, the LNG supply gap persists and the rerouting from Qatar to Oman, Nigeria, and the US becomes the new baseline, not a temporary diversion.^8,4