India imports more than half of its LPG consumption with West Asia accounting for as much as 90 per cent of the total imports
| Photo Credit:
ABEER KHAN
The shutting down of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production by QatarEnergy has threatened 60 million standard cubic meters per day (MSCMD) of India’s cumulative consumption of 195 MSCMD. India imports half of its requirement of natural gas of which roughly 40-42 per cent comes from Qatar.
Top sources in the government said that India is in touch with International Energy Agency (IEA) and OPEC on the West Asian scenario. Besides, it is also talking to the US, Australia and Canada for supplying LNG.
“We are in a comfortable position currently on LNG and LPG. We are in touch with traders such as Sonatrach Petroleum (Algeria), ADNOC, Trafigura and Vitol as well as national oil companies (NoC) to purchase LNG and LPG,” said one of the sources.
Rationing of supplies
On rationing of LNG supplies, another source said the situation is “comfortable” at present but supplies can be “re-prioritised” if bottlenecks in the Strait of Hormuz persist.
Meanwhile, GAIL announced that supplies from Qatar have come to a halt and it is assessing the need to curtail supplies to select customers. This comes after GAIL’s long-term supplier, Petronet LNG (PLL) issued a force majeure.
“GAIL is currently assessing the situation with respect to any supply curtailment that may need to be imposed on its downstream customers. Notwithstanding the above, LNG supplies to GAIL from other sources/suppliers are currently unaffected. At this stage, the potential impact of the ongoing Force Majeure situation cannot be quantified,” the PSU said in a filing on BSE.
Assuring cooking gas
On LPG as well, the government is constantly reviewing the supply scenario. India imports more than half of its LPG consumption with West Asia accounting for as much as 90 per cent of the total imports — most of which pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
“LPG from the US has started coming to India from January. We are also buying from Norway. Besides, we have enough refining capacity and with crude supplies, the refiners can produce more LPG. So, that is also an option,” explained a top source.
Sumit Ritolia, Kpler’s Lead Research Analyst for Refining & Modeling, explained that refineries can be pushed to maximise LPG yields, but refinery configurations and operational constraints mean production cannot be ramped up meaningfully to compensate import.
Marine insurance
Top sources in the government also said that India is talking to the US on its proposed mechanism for providing marine insurance for oil tankers and other product vessels crossing the 34 km-long world’s most critical energy choke point.
“Oil Secretary is in touch with US authorities on the matter of marine insurance. The discussions focus on issues such as insurance cover, the corpus amount to be created for the insurance, among other issues,” said one of the sources.
In a March 3 statement, the US International Development Finance Corporation said it is ready to mobilise its Political Risk Insurance and Guaranty products to stabilise international commerce and support American and allied businesses operating in the West Asia during this period of conflict with the Iranian regime.
Published on March 5, 2026