As a followup to Gessler’s - comments of March 17, 2026 – my friend Gessler offline, on April 16, 2026, further explained the oil/gas situation in India:
"The situation in India is
fine at the moment, in fact it has gotten better in some areas.
Earlier, the government had
restricted commercial users (factories and such) to a liquid petroleum
gas (LPG)/liquid natural gas (LNG) quota of only 20% of
their average gas requirement, so as to ensure that household users (for
cooking mostly) get the maximum supply possible.
But now it seems India has succeeded
in tapping alternative sources of gas (US, Russia, others), and as a result the
quota for commercial users was first increased to 40%, and recently up
to 70% of their average requirement. This has happened without the
supply to households being effected so it appears the supply situation has
gotten somewhat better on the gas front. They're also encouraging more and more
people to switch to a piped natural gas (PNG) connection as LNG is not
as supply-limited as LPG due to sizeable domestic deposits of natural gas.
Regarding oil and its derivatives
(petrol, diesel), the situation was never as much of a concern as gas.
This is because many alternative sources exist and the large refinery industry
in India holds ample stocks itself. This is without even having to tap into the
Strategic Petroleum Reserves, which many countries have already released into
the market. But India hasn't felt the need to, yet. The prices of regular
petrol/diesel (barring some specialized, high-octane versions [like 97 to 99
RON -see reference to India ] used in expensive sports cars and the like) have remained at pre-war levels.
Although I suspect they might have to consider some increases if the situation
persists.
While the availability of Aviation
Turbine Fuel (ATF), aka jet fuel, remains assured (again, thanks to the local
refinery industry), the prices of it have increased. So flight tickets have
gotten costlier. The government has also increased the export tariffs on ATF so
as to ensure most of what is produced here remains here.
I hope the conflict is resolved
and the situation goes back to normal as soon as possible, but things look like
they could go either way."
Pete Comment - Russia and Iran
One reason India's situation has gotten better in some area is because on March 13, 2026, to help deal with the economic costs of the Iran war, the US temporarily lifted restrictions on the sale of Russian oil exports - with India a major customer.
India’s top oil suppliers in 2024. by country, were https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_and_gas_industry_in_India#Oil_imports_by_source_country US$51.3 Billion from Russia, $28.6 Billion from Iraq, $19.3 Billion from Saudi Arabia, $13.7 Billion from the UAE, and $5 Billion from the US.
India has long been a significant importer of Iranian oil and gas.
As of April 2026, India has resumed importing Iranian oil for the first time since May 2019, following a seven-year hiatus caused by US sanctions. Driven by supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz due to regional conflict, India - the world's third-largest oil importer - is utilizing a temporary US sanctions waiver to secure energy, with tankers carrying Iranian crude to Indian ports.
China is the largest crude oil importer, US second, then India.
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