Amid tightening Middle Eastern LPG supply and strengthening regional demand, US waterborne LPG exports have shifted sharply toward Asian and Indian Ocean destinations in 2026, according to Wood Mackenzie's US LPG export tracking data. Shipments to the Indian Ocean region, including India and Pakistan, reached approximately 16,700 thousand barrels (mbbls) in May 2026, marking the highest monthly volume on record for the region. This compares with roughly 6,450 mbbls in January 2026 and approximately 7,700 mbbls in June 2025. According to Wood Mackenzie analysts, the surge in long-haul shipments to the Indian Ocean accelerated following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, as market participants sought alternative sources to offset reduced Middle Eastern availability.
Total US LPG exports increased in parallel with the change in destination mix, reaching approximately 2,813 thousand barrels per day (mb/d) in May 2026, significantly above the 2,150 to 2,320 mb/d range that prevailed across 2025, Wood Mackenzie proprietary data shows. Propane accounted for roughly 71% of the May total, with butane making up the balance. The increase reflects stronger utilization of existing export infrastructure rather than the commissioning of new export capacity.
Deliveries to China reinforced the eastward tilt, rising to approximately 13,070 mbbls in June 2026 from low single-thousand levels through much of 2025. Indian Ocean volumes held near 12,000 to 13,700 mbbls monthly from June through August, indicating the reorientation has persisted beyond a single-month spike.
The pattern is a genuine shift in destination mix, not a uniform rise across all buyers. Combined Asian and Indian Ocean deliveries gained share of the total through 2026 while volumes to shorter-haul destinations such as Mexico and Latin America softened over the same months. The reorientation therefore reflects a reallocation of US barrels toward longer-haul buyers, absorbing more tonne-miles per barrel exported.
Sustained monthly volumes to Asian discharge points through August, rather than a single-month spike, indicate the shift is structural for the period observed. Whether it persists depends on the relative pull of these destinations against shorter routings, a balance that loading data alone tracks but does not forecast.
