The Government of India has reportedly extended the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) reservation period from 21 to 25 days. Sources told ANI that to stop hoarding and black marketing, “LPG reservation period has been extended from 21 to 25 days.”
The statement came after restrictions on the use of LPG components such as propane and butane amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia.
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Sources said, “There have been cases where people who used to book LPG cylinders in 55 days have started ordering LPG cylinders in 15 days.”
The government has also directed refineries to increase LPG production, the sources said, adding that an order has been issued to prioritize domestic LPG over commercial connections.
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“Domestic consumers will always be a priority,” sources told ANI.
They further claimed that the government is looking for more LPG partners. “Countries like Algeria, Australia, Canada, Norway have started selling LPG,” they added.
“India unlikely to release oil stocks in G7 bid”
India is unlikely to contribute its strategic oil reserves to the G7 efforts, keeping an “India First” strategy in mind, government sources told news agency ANI on Monday, March 9.
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“India has no plan to release oil reserves in coordination with the International Energy Agency (IEA). India is unlikely to contribute its strategic oil reserves to the G7 effort as our strategy is ‘India First’,” sources were quoted as saying.
G7 meeting on oil stocks
The statement by Indian government sources came after G7 finance ministers met to discuss a possible release of strategic oil reserves as oil prices rose to more than $119 a barrel on Monday amid missile and drone attacks on Iran.
The Financial Times previously reported that the finance ministers of the G7 group, which also includes Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, are to discuss a joint release of strategic oil reserves coordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The report says three G7 countries, including the United States, have so far backed the idea.
“We’re not there yet” — The G7 meeting
After the G7 meeting, French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said the G7 countries had not yet decided whether to release emergency oil reserves. “We’re not there yet,” Lescure said, according to Reuters.
Earlier, Lee Hardman, chief currency analyst at Japanese bank MUFG, told Reuters that the release of G7 strategic oil reserves “would offset about 2 to 3 weeks of normal Strait of Hormuz flows.”
“This would be a temporary solution to help prevent an even more disruptive increase in the price of oil in the coming weeks,” he added.
Oil skyrocketed above $100 a barrel
The war in Iran sparked by US-Israeli strikes is fueling worries about the global economy, with global stock markets falling and oil rocketing above $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The shutdown of shipping through the Hormuz – a narrow waterway that normally carries a fifth of the world’s oil – along with attacks on key energy infrastructure are among the factors that have driven up natural gas and diesel prices.
Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates began cutting output over the weekend as stocks quickly fill due to the Hormuz closure. Iraq began shutting down production last week. At its peak, global benchmark Brent shot up as much as 29%.
