ISLAMABAD: India is facing a supply shortfall of about 400,000 barrels of liquefied petroleum gas per day, as the Middle East conflict severely disrupts imports through the Strait of Hormuz, according to data from energy analytics firm Kpler.
A report by Nikkei Asia, a Japan-based financial newspaper, was cited by India’s The Wire, saying that the country’s domestic production is "unable to make up for the fall in imports caused by the Iran war."
Kpler data cited by Nikkei Asia showed that India imported only 377,620 barrels of LPG per day in April, less than half the 851,870 barrels per day imported in February before the regional conflict intensified.
Although India increased domestic production, output rose by only 75,000 barrels per day, far below the scale needed to offset import losses, the newspaper said.
Speaking to Nikkei, Kpler’s lead analyst for refining and supply, Sumit Ritolia, said India’s domestic LPG production "had already peaked and could not increase much further."
"The supply gap might persist for as long as imports don’t fully resume," Ritolia said.
According to India’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, in FY 2025-26, the country imported around 60% of its LPG requirements. Nearly 80% of those imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz from Gulf suppliers, including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, according to Nikkei.
According to the report, LPG imports from those four countries fell to 173,000 barrels per day in April, down about 75% compared to February levels.
Indian Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri recently said at the Confederation of Indian Industry Annual Business Summit that there was "no crisis," claiming India possessed enough LPG stocks to last 45 days, while crude oil and natural gas reserves could last 69 days.
India has attempted to "diversify" LPG imports by sourcing supplies from Iran, Argentina, Australia, and Chile, The Wire said. However, it added that the combined shipments from those countries totaled only 43,000 barrels per day last month, far below the 678,000 barrels per day previously supplied by its main West Asian partners.
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