Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) imports to India are likely to halve this month due to the war in Iran and the blockage of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reported, citing traders and ship-tracking data.

India imports 60% of its LPG needs, with 85-90% of this being sourced from Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which use the Strait of Hormuz as transit for shipping oil and gas to users. The strait has been effectively closed since the first week of March.

Until the US-Israeli strikes against Iran on 28 February, the Middle East had accounted for around 90% of sea-borne supplies, reaching 22.7 million metric tons last year.

However, this month so far, the share of Gulf exporters fell to around 55%, with about 40% of imports coming from the US and Russia and Argentina accounting for the rest, LSEG data showed, as per Reuters.

Around 50% drop in March imports Traders and ship-tracking data from LSEG reportedly suggest that India is set to import 1.190 million metric tons of LPG this month, down 46% from February on a daily basis.

LPG is mainly used as fuel for cars, heating and to produce other petrochemicals. Earlier this month, the Centre asked consumers to avoid panic buying ​of LPG cylinders and shift to piped natural gas where possible.

Imports from Russia, though are constrained by scarcity of available volumes and vessels, as well as relatively long routes from the key LPG exporting outlet of Ust-Luga in the Baltic Sea.

The government has said the local refineries have increased LPG output by around 40% from the start of March.

'No shortage of LPG', says govt The Indian government has maintained that there is no shortage of LPG in the country.

Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary (Marketing & Oil Refinery), Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, said on 13 March, “There is no shortage of LNG supplies. There is no shortage of LPG. I am repeatedly appealing to all consumers: those who can shift from LPG to PNG should do so immediately.”

In the Rajya Sabha on 24 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “It is the efforts of our government to ensure that we do not remain overly dependent on just one source of fuel.”

He said efforts are being made to ensure large-scale enhancement of domestic production of LPG.

On 24 March, the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways confirmed that the two LPG tankers Pine Gas and Jag Vasant, carrying more than 92,000 tons of LPG, sailed through Hormuz and were expected to reach ports in India between 26 and 28 March.

Previously, MT Shivalik and MT Nanda Devi, carrying about 92,712 tonnes of LPG, safely reached the Indian shore.

Indian-flagged oil tanker Jag Laadki, with 80,886 tonnes of crude oil from the UAE, reached Mundra on 18 March.