The escalation in West Asia with oil and gas assets being targeted has triggered a fresh scramble for energy resources, including spot purchases of LNG and LPG cargoes, by India which depends on 47 per cent of its gas imports and 90 per cent of its cooking fuel shipments from the region.
International Energy Agency (IEA) has said the war in West Asia is creating the “largest supply disruption” in the history of the global oil market.
‘High volatile’
Top sources termed the situation as “highly volatile” forcing the government to scout for supplies from “wherever” possible. Closure of the Strait of Hormuz (SoH), as of Thursday, could extend further as Iran pledges to retaliate over attack by Israel on its South Pars gas field
“LPG is a concern. For LNG, India has supplies, but the government is looking for more cargoes, even spot, as natural gas can help partly offset for lost LPG supply to the commercial sector. Situation is quite on the edge in West Asia and hostilities can rise further. Government is constantly reviewing it and will act accordingly.” said one of the sources.
While India has “comfortable stocks” of crude oil, petrol, diesel, jet fuel and liquefied natural gas (LNG), it has limited supply of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is the main cooking fuel for more than 33 crore consumers.
The world’s third largest energy consumer is also looking for sport cargoes of LPG and LNG after Israel attacked South Pars gas field, following which Iran retaliated targeting oil and gas infrastructure in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait.
A trade source said that spot cargoes of LPG can be booked as the peak heating season has passed in many countries. However, prices will be very high due to the latest hostilities and the ensuing uncertainty.
Impact on imports
On fresh violence in West Asia and impact on India’s imports, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG) Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma said, “The reason we are sitting here is primarily that we are affected by the supplies of the Middle East. Anything which impacts the supplies from the Middle East impacts us. We are trying to pick up the cargoes from other sources.”
In crude, India has diversified to over 40 sources. Around 70 per cent of crude oil imports now comes from outside the SoH. Some of India’s LPG is also coming from the US. Qatar is definitely a very big supplier of LNG. but there are other suppliers as well. For instance, the US and Australia, she added.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “It has been a testing time for not just us, but for the entire global community. Our leaders have been in touch with their counterparts. I just spoke about the conversation between our Prime Minister and the Crown Prince of Kuwait. We have been in touch with several other leaders.”
“A couple of days back, you saw that because of our engagement, we were able to get two of our LPG ships through the SoH. We continue to be in touch with several stakeholders in this matter so that we can ensure our energy security needs and also at the same time ensure the well-being and safety of our Indian nationals and diaspora who are present in large numbers in the GCC countries.”
Sharma and Jaiswal were speaking at the daily inter ministerial briefing on West Asia.
Later in the day, Jaiswal speaking at the MEA briefing said that India aims to secure LPG from all available sources, including Russia, to meet domestic fuel needs.
IEA in its March 2026 oil market report said “With crude and oil product flows through the SoH plunging from around 20 million barrels per day (mb/d) before the war to a trickle currently, limited capacity available to bypass the crucial waterway, and storage filling up, Gulf countries have cut total oil production by at least 10 mb/d. In the absence of a rapid resumption of shipping flows, supply losses are set to increase.”