The ongoing attacks on shipping vessels by Houthi militants in the Red Sea have not impacted the flow of crude oil to India but freight has gone up due to rerouting via the Cape of Good Hope, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) Chairman Pushp Kumar Joshi said.
India, the world's third-biggest oil importer, gets the bulk of its Russian supplies through the Red Sea. Russian supplies made up over 35% of India's total crude imports in 2023, amounting to 1.7 million barrels per day.
Russian ships and cargo are not prime targets of the attacks at this stage. However, rerouting of ships around the southern tip of Africa instead of transiting through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea has led to ships making longer voyages, resulting in the shortage of ships and rise in freight charges.
