India’s Oil Minister Heads to Qatar as LNG Supply Crisis Deepens

India’s Oil Minister Hardeep Puri is visiting Qatar on Thursday and Friday as India seeks to secure LNG and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply amid the fragile U.S.-Iran ceasefire.

Puri will be on an official visit to the State of Qatar on April 9-10, 2026, India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a statement early on Thursday.

Puri is expected to press Qatari officials to prioritize supply of LNG and LPG, which is widely used as a cooking fuel in India, to the country, sources with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

India relies on Qatar for 45% of its LNG supply and 20% of LPG supply, and the tiny Gulf state is the single biggest supplier of both fuels to India.

Qatar halted all LNG production on the third day of the war, on March 2, and subsequently declared force majeure on deliveries. Amid the war, Iran has closed off the Strait of Hormuz, and has only selectively assured safe passage to certain energy cargoes to India, China, Malaysia, and Pakistan.

Some Indian tankers carrying LPG have cleared the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks despite the de facto closure of the critical oil and gas chokepoint.

The tentative and already fragile ceasefire, however, has not led to an immediate re-opening of the Strait of Hormuz, as the U.S. has demanded.

Traffic through the Strait was still largely choked early on Thursday, with Iran controlling the passage of vessels.

Qatar, for its part, is considering tentatively resuming work on its LNG expansion projects, while the full restart of its LNG facilities could take months. State firm QatarEnergy has said that it would be forced to declare force majeure on a number of long-term contracts, while repairs to the Ras Laffan LNG complex, the world’s largest, could take up to five years to complete.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com