Petronet LNG, a leading importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India, has declared force majeure on fuel supplies due to the situation in the Middle East, which may lead to reduction in supplies to industries, the Indian Express (IE) newspaper reported, citing its sources.
Due to the expected shortage of supplies from Qatar, Indian gas distribution companies such as GAIL are reducing supplies to industrial facilities. If the situation worsens, further optimization of supplies for certain industries capable of operating on alternative fuels may be considered.
„Ships are currently unable to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz to Ras Laffan, Qatar Energy's LNG loading port,“ Petronet LNG said in a statement. “Given the current security situation and significant risks to maritime shipping, the company (Petronet LNG Limited) has issued a force majeure notice to Qatar Energy regarding its LNG carriers,“ the statement added.
Petronet LNG has long-term contracts to purchase 8.5 million tons of Qatari LNG per year. It also purchases additional LNG from Qatar on the spot market. Other Indian oil and gas companies also buy LNG from the UAE. In total, India imports approximately 27 million tonnes of LNG annually from various sources, more than half of which comes from the Persian Gulf region.
As reported earlier, nearly 40 Indian-flagged ships, mostly crude oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers, are blocked in the Strait of Hormuz. India has been increasing its oil supplies from the Persian Gulf in recent times. However, since the start of the Israeli and American aggression against Iran, risks have arisen for the transportation of crude oil through the Strait of Hormuz. As a result, as ANI reported earlier, India is considering increasing its oil purchases from Russia. Meanwhile, India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said it has sufficient stocks of oil and petroleum products.
According to IE, Indian oil refineries have about 25 days of oil reserves. Some supplies will continue to come from regions not connected to the Strait of Hormuz. As the newspaper noted, India's daily oil demand is about 5.6 million barrels. In addition to the oil reserves, Indian refineries have enough gasoline, diesel and liquefied petroleum gas to meet domestic demand for another 25 days.