India has directed its refiners to maximise LPG production for domestic sales only, amid a severe energy crisis triggered by the Iran war.
The government order, released on Friday (6 March 2026), instructs refiners to sell LPG to state-run oil marketing companies, which can then sell it to domestic customers.
Refiners have been asked to avoid using propane and butane for petrochemical production, as LPG is a combination of these two components.
India, which imports nearly 85% of its oil and gas needs, is facing an energy crisis after Qatar closed the world's largest LNG terminal in Ras Laffan following a drone attack by Iran.
Tehran has also blocked the Strait of Hormuz, which carries nearly half of India's oil and gas imports.
New Delhi has managed to secure crude oil supply after Indian Oil and others pivoted to Russian oil, with permission from the United States.
They have snapped up nearly 20 million barrels of seaborne Russian Urals in less than a day since the US Treasury Department allowed India to do so.
The US Treasury Department has issued a temporary 30-day waiver to enable oil to keep flowing into the global market.
As part of the interim India-US trade deal, New Delhi has agreed to abstain from Russian oil imports, which, according to Washington DC, is fuelling Russia's war in Ukraine.
