New Delhi: India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer, has been hit hard by the US-Israeli war on Iran that has badly disrupted energy shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.
Unlike China, India has not banned exports of refined fuel but the government has ordered energy companies to share their import, export and production data with a central agency in an attempt to ensure sufficient domestic availability. New Delhi has also said it will medemand from neighbouring countries only after assessing local needs.
Below are some details on India’s oil and gas sector.
Refining
India is the world’s fourth-largest oil refiner and its 23 refineries together process about 5.6 million barrels per day.Private companies Reliance Industries Ltd, Russia-backed Nayara Energy and HPCL Mittal Energy – a joint venture of state-run Hindustan Petroleum and steel tycoon Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, control about 40 per cent of the overall refining capacity.
Imports
Local oil and gas producers, including state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India, produce only a fraction of India’s overall demand, forcing the nation to rely on imports to meet more than 90 per cent of its oil requirement and half of its natural gas needs.
India is Qatar’s second-biggest client of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Qatar has declared a force majeure.
Prior to the conflict, India sourced more than 40 per cent of its crude imports from the Middle East.
India consumed 33.15 million metric tons of liquefied petroleum gas, mainly used as cooking fuel, last year, with imports accounting for about 60 per cent of demand. Typically, about 90 per cent of LPG imports come from the Middle East.
Exports
While most Indian state refiners have largely stopped exporting fuels, Reliance is the biggest fuel exporter in the country. Fuels produced at Reliance’s 704,000 barrels per day export-focused refinery are supplied to Africa, the US, Europe, Australia, Asia and the Middle East.Between April 2025 and January 2026, India exported 14 million metric tons of gasoline and 23.6 million tons of gasoil, according to preliminary government data.
COnsumption
India’s April to January fuel consumption totalled about 222.3 million tons, with gasoil accounting for about 40 per cent, gasoline 18 per cent and LPG 14 per cent.
State-fuel retailers Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum control about 91 per cent of the country’s 101,470 retail fuel stations.
These state retailers also buy products from refiners Chennai Petroleum, Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals and private companies to sell to consumers.
Shortages
India has so far maintained that it has sufficient stocks of gasoline and gasoil to meet local demand.
However, the world’s second-largest LPG importer and 4th-largest LNG importer is facing a shortage of gas. The federal government has asked refiners to boost LPG production. Its gas importers and suppliers including Petronet LNG and GAIL (India) Ltd have issued force majeure for local industries.
India has invoked emergency powers ordering refiners to maximise the production of LPG and cut gas sales to industries to avoid a shortage for the 333 million homes using LPG.
India has also asked consumers to avoid panic buying of LPG cylinders and shift to piped natural gas where possible.
