Hormuz crisis: Australian LNG to India will surge, says Australian High Commissioner

Australia's High Commissioner to India stated that Australian LNG could reach eastern India via crisis-free Indian Ocean routes, bypassing the blocked Strait...

What Happened

Australia's High Commissioner to India stated that Australian LNG could reach eastern India via crisis-free Indian Ocean routes, bypassing the blocked Strait of Hormuz, and that supply volumes to India are set to surge.
The statement comes amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz since late February 2026, which has severely disrupted India's traditional Gulf-sourced LNG and crude oil supplies.
The High Commissioner also highlighted that Australian lithium and copper exports to India could increase significantly, given India's growing clean-energy transition needs.
The Hormuz crisis is accelerating pre-existing India-Australia energy and critical minerals cooperation that was formalised through the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which entered into force in December 2022.
Australia is already one of the world's largest LNG exporters, with sustained Asian demand from Japan, South Korea, China, and India underpinning long-term supply contracts.

Static Topic Bridges

Maritime Chokepoints and Alternative Energy Supply Routes

A maritime chokepoint is a narrow, strategically critical waterway through which a disproportionate share of global trade or energy flows, making it a point of acute vulnerability. The Strait of Hormuz is the world's most critical oil and LNG chokepoint. When it is disrupted, energy importers must either draw down strategic reserves or rapidly secure alternative supply from producers whose exports do not transit the strait.

Strait of Hormuz: ~20% of global petroleum liquids, ~20% of global LNG trade (2024, EIA)
Australian LNG route to India: traverses the Indian Ocean directly — not through the Persian Gulf — making it immune to Hormuz disruption
Australian LNG export terminals are located on the northwest coast (e.g., Darwin LNG, NW Shelf, Gorgon, Wheatstone, Ichthys) and ship eastward and northward into the Indian Ocean
India's eastern coast ports (Ennore/Kamarajar, Dhamra, Kochi on the west) receive LNG via Indian Ocean lanes unaffected by the Hormuz blockade
Other Hormuz-bypass routes: Saudi Arabia's Petroline (~5 mb/d capacity), UAE's Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline to Fujairah; no full bypass exists for Qatari LNG

Connection to this news: Australia's geographic position makes it one of the few major LNG suppliers that can ramp up deliveries to India without any dependence on the Strait of Hormuz, giving it a structural advantage during the current crisis.

India-Australia Bilateral Relations and ECTA

India and Australia signed the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) on April 2, 2022, which entered into force on December 29, 2022 — the first trade deal India concluded in over a decade. Bilateral merchandise trade has more than doubled since the agreement came into force, rising from ~USD 12.2 billion in 2020–21 to approximately USD 26 billion in 2022–23. Both sides are also negotiating a more comprehensive Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) targeting AUD 100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.

ECTA signed: April 2, 2022; in force: December 29, 2022
ECTA coverage: over 85% of Australian goods to India tariff-free (rising to 90% by Jan 2026); 96–100% of Indian goods to Australia tariff-free
Key Australian exports to India: coal, LNG, gold, wool, sheep meat, lentils, rare earths, critical minerals
CECA (under negotiation): more ambitious agreement covering services, investment, and further goods liberalisation
India-Australia relation framework: "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" (established 2020)
Both are Quad members (with the US and Japan) — reflecting convergence of strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific

Connection to this news: The Hormuz crisis has given urgency to what ECTA had already facilitated — a structural deepening of India-Australia energy trade. The crisis is fast-tracking supply contracts that might have taken years to negotiate in normal circumstances.

Critical Minerals and India's Clean Energy Transition

Critical minerals — lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, rare earth elements — are essential inputs for batteries, electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, and other clean energy technologies. India's push toward its renewable energy targets (500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030) and EV adoption creates large domestic demand for these minerals, almost none of which India produces in commercially significant quantities domestically. Australia is among the world's top producers of lithium (world's largest), cobalt, copper, and rare earths.

KABIL (Khanij Bidesh India Ltd): Government of India entity created in 2019 to acquire strategic mineral assets abroad; KABIL-Australia MOU signed March 2022 with the Australian Critical Minerals Facilitation Office
By late 2023, five target projects (two lithium, three cobalt) identified for Indian investment in Australia
Australia's lithium export earnings: ~AUD 4.8 billion in 2024–25, projected to rise to ~AUD 6.8 billion in 2026–27
India's National Critical Mineral Mission: launched to secure domestic reserves and overseas supply chains
India's EV targets and PLI (Production Linked Incentive) schemes in battery storage create structural demand for lithium and copper

Connection to this news: The Hormuz crisis, by revealing supply chain fragility concentrated in one region, is accelerating India's push to diversify across all strategic commodities — not just oil, but also the minerals needed for its energy transition — with Australia as a key partner on both fronts.

Key Facts & Data

Australia-India ECTA entered into force: December 29, 2022
Bilateral India-Australia merchandise trade: ~USD 26 billion (2022–23), up from ~USD 12.2 billion in 2020–21
CECA bilateral trade target: AUD 100 billion by 2030
Australia: world's largest lithium producer
KABIL-Australia MOU signed: March 2022
India's renewable energy target: 500 GW non-fossil capacity by 2030
LNG transiting Strait of Hormuz: approximately one-fifth of global trade (2024, EIA)
India-Australia strategic framework: Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2020); both are Quad members
India imports approximately 60% of its LPG consumption; ~90% of that transits Hormuz