Indian state refiners are ramping up their production of liquefied petroleum gas amid a seasonal jump in demand as the country enters festive season and imports from the Middle East remain strangled.
So far in September, local production of LPG has averaged 44,000 tons daily, Indian media reported, citing Bloomberg data. This was close to 20% more than the August average, despite diversification in imports from the United States and Africa, The Telegraph reported.
India has also boosted imports from the United Arab Emirates in recent months. The UAE has ramped up its exports of crude oil and products despite the war, managing the Strait of Hormuz via a pipeline bypass to Fujairah for crude and by shuttling exports on small vessels to the Gulf of Oman, from where it loads fuels onto larger tankers for export out of the Middle East.
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The Telegraph noted that despite the import diversification and festive season, demand for liquefied petroleum gas in India was likely to remain lower than last year because of demand destruction in the industrial sector. The UAE, meanwhile, remains India’s largest supplier of the energy commodity. ADNOC recently confirmed that despite the situation in Hormuz, it will deliver all contracted LPG volumes for Indian buyers in October.
“As India’s largest LPG supplier, ADNOC remains fully committed to meeting our customers’ needs and supporting India’s energy security,” a spokesperson for the Emirati major told Bloomberg. “We continue to provide reliable and secure LPG supplies to our customers in India and work closely with them to meet their requirements.”
Some 60% of Indian households rely on liquefied petroleum gas as their primary cooking fuel, and the blockage at the Strait of Hormuz, where 90% of all Indian LPG imports used to pass through, was immediately felt by consumers, leading to demand destruction.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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