India Overtakes UAE, Saudi Arabia to Become Kenya’s Top Petrol Supplier Amid Middle East Crisis
India has emerged as Kenya’s largest source of petroleum products, overtaking Gulf heavyweights Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, as the US-Iran war in the Middle East disrupted global fuel-trading routes. Though India remains a petroleum-importing nation, it has massively expanded its refining capacity over the past few decades.
Citing data from Belgian commodity-data firm 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.
The shift extends beyond Kenya. India’s petroleum-product exports to Africa hit a record high in July, climbing 66% year-on-year, according to Alhajji. He said on X that Africa has become the primary market for Indian fuel after the European Union banned imports of petroleum products refined from Russian crude in third countries, diverting Indian cargoes away from Europe.
Kenya had traditionally sourced petrol, diesel and jet fuel through government-backed agreements with Saudi Aramco, Abu Dhabi’s ADNOC, and the Emirates National Oil Company. But disruptions in the Middle East caused by the US-Iran war pushed the East African nation to turn to India for its fuel supplies.
India Among the World’s Top Petroleum Refiners
India is the world’s fourth-largest oil refiner and Asia’s second-largest, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Its 22 operational refineries have a combined installed capacity of 258.1 million tonnes annually.
The country exported 61.5 million tonnes of petroleum products in 2025-26, despite importing more than 90% of its crude oil. The world’s largest oil-refining complex is also located in India the Reliance Industries facility at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
India’s refining strength has driven another unexpected shift. Russia, one of the world’s largest crude exporters, began importing Indian petrol after Ukrainian attacks disrupted its refineries.
Meanwhile, the UAE’s petroleum-product shipments to Kenya fell sharply, from around 90,000 barrels per day in January to roughly 15,000 barrels per day in August, according to Kenyan news outlet Kenyans.
Signs of the shift had surfaced months earlier. Official documents reviewed by Business Daily Africa showed that 82.38 million litres of kerosene loaded at Sikka port in India were discharged in Mombasa on March 19. A further 156.75 million litres comprising 81.15 million litres of kerosene and 75.6 million litres of diesel were scheduled for shipment from Sikka in April.
India’s Exports to Kenya Jump 151%
The rise in India’s petroleum exports to Kenya coincides with a sharp expansion in trade between the two countries. India’s exports to Kenya grew 151.41% by value in July 2026 compared with July 2025, placing the African nation among India’s five fastest-growing export destinations that month, according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
That figure spans all product categories, not petroleum alone. Still, petroleum products were a major driver of India’s overall export growth in July, which rose 67.64% globally from $4.13 billion a year earlier to $6.92 billion according to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
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Alhajji separately noted that India’s petroleum-product exports to Africa reached a record in July, up 66% year-on-year, and attributed the shift to the European Union’s restrictions on imports of petroleum products made from Russian crude.
India was Kenya’s third-largest trading partner in 2025-26, according to the Indian High Commission in Nairobi. Bilateral trade totalled $4.31 billion, comprising $4.01 billion in Indian exports and $290 million in imports from Kenya. Petroleum products topped the mission’s list of India’s principal exports to the country.