Government Prioritizes Domestic Gas Supplies Amid West Asia Conflict Disruptions

In response to disruptions in energy supplies due to the West Asia conflict, the government has prioritized natural gas allocation for cooking gas and transport sectors. To ensure uninterrupted supply, sectors like petrochemicals will face reduced gas allocation. LPG, CNG, and piped natural gas are prioritized to meet full requirements.

The government has announced a revision in the priority for domestically produced natural gas allocation, giving precedence to the cooking gas and transport sectors amid the ongoing West Asia conflict. This move seeks to provide uninterrupted gas supplies, ensuring the full requirements of these sectors are met before other industries receive gas allocations.

The conflict has disrupted around 80% of India's 21-million-tonne LPG imports, prompting the government to instruct refineries to boost domestic LPG production by diverting resources from other sectors like petrochemicals. Additionally, the rising global energy prices have led to an increase of Rs 60 per cylinder in LPG prices over the weekend.

With high stakes in the Strait of Hormuz affecting the flow of LNG shipments, India's government is ensuring that essential cooking fuel and vehicular transport are not disrupted. The new allocation prioritizes 100% supply to LPG, CNG, and piped gas needs, while sectors like fertilisers and industrial consumers will see a reduction in gas supplies, in line with their past six-month usage.

(With inputs from agencies.)