West Asia conflict: Govt may ask companies to cut exports, increase auto fuel, LPG supplies

NEW DELHI: Amid fears of a shortage successful crude supplies, govt is looking to nudge refiners to divert much car substance and LPG to the home marketplace by cutting connected exports and besides summation cooking state accumulation truthful that determination is nary disruption successful section supplies.While govt and lipid companies insisted there’s nary shortage, refiners are looking astatine alternate sources to partially compensate for crude coming from war-hit West Asia.

The hostility has led to a spike successful lipid and state prices, and fixed India’s dependence connected imports, inflating the import measure and stoking inflationary pressures. Officials, however, said retail substance prices whitethorn not emergence immediately, arsenic lipid selling companies travel a calibrated attack — absorbing losses erstwhile planetary prices are precocious and recouping them erstwhile prices soften.

Retail petrol and diesel prices person remained unchanged since April 2022.Mantri meets lipid cos to measure availability of crude and gasOn a time erstwhile Iranian drones damaged portion of Saudi Aramco refinery and Qatar Energy’s facilities, the world’s largest LNG producer, announced an export pause, petroleum curate Hardeep Singh Puri and his squad of officials met lipid companies connected Monday to measure the availability of crude and gas. “We are continuously monitoring the evolving situation, and each steps volition beryllium taken to guarantee availability and affordability of large petroleum products successful the country,” the lipid ministry said successful a station connected X.

India imports astir 90% of its crude requirement. It besides meets 60-65% of its LPG request and astir 60% of its LNG needs done imports, mostly from West Asia, with shipments routed via Strait of Hormuz, which risks being choked owed to the war.

According to the International Energy Agency, successful 2023, 5.9% of the country’s accumulation was being exported. Between April and Dec 2025, India exported petroleum products worthy astir $330 billion, with the Netherlands, UAE, the US, Singapore, Australia and China being the main destinations.

In 2024, it besides exported petroleum state worthy $454 million, mostly to Nepal, China, and Myanmar. The Reliance refinery successful Jamnagar is the largest exporter successful the country.An lipid institution enforcement said refiners are already successful interaction with traders to necktie up capacities amid fears of the blockade of Strait of Hormuz. By Monday, the planetary marketplace had caught the jitters from Qatar’s determination to suspend state shipments.An lipid enforcement said portion disruption could origin difficulties successful the contiguous term, Indian players had a wide portfolio that they tin pat for LNG, including the US, with vessels being routed done the Suez Canal.“Even if determination is simply a unit majeure, we person different sources of supply, which we tin tap. Besides, nary 1 is going to halt supplies indefinitely,” the enforcement said. While lipid and state prices roseate Monday, the absorption is connected ensuring that proviso lines stay open.