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India has overtaken Gulf giants like Saudi Arabia and the UAE as Kenya’s biggest source of petroleum products amid disruptions caused by the US-Iran war. The shift is part of a wider surge that has made Africa the main market for Indian petroleum products.
India has emerged as Kenya’s biggest source of petroleum products, overtaking Gulf giants like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as the US-Iran war in the Middle East disrupted global fuel-trading routes. While India is a petroleum-importing nation, it has expanded its refining capacity massively in the last few decades.
Citing information from Belgian commodity-data company Kpler, Dallas-based energy economist Anas Alhajji, said, “India has replaced the UAE and Saudi Arabia as the supplier of gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and fuel oil to Kenya.”
Not just Kenya, India’s petroleum-product exports to Africa reached a record high in July, rising 66% year-on-year, according to Alhajji. Africa has emerged as the main market for Indian fuels after the EU banned imports of petroleum products refined from Russian crude in third countries, redirecting Indian cargoes away from Europe, he said on X.
Kenya has traditionally sourced petrol, diesel and jet fuel through government-backed agreements with Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC and the Emirates National Oil Company. However, disruption in the Middle East due to the US-Iran war forced the east African nation to seek fuel supplies from India.
