LPG supply in India takes a hit after drone attack on Saudi Aramco facilities

Fuel retailers in India are at a crossroads ahead of the festive season because of the Saudi Arabia drone attacks. Retailers are scouring the market for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) after Saudi Aramco deferred some shipments. Demand is set to climb in the coming weeks due to the festive season.

Indian Oil Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Hindustan Petroleum Corp are looking for prompt LPG supplies for delivery before Diwali. According to a report in Bloomberg, Sanjiv Singh, Chairman of Indian Oil said that the company is anticipating higher demand for LPG next month and Saudis have also indicated that there will be a deferment of the first couple of shipments for October. "We are pursuing very hard for some extra LPG. Everyone is trying, because October-November are tricky months," he said.

Singh also clarified that they were not seeing any crisis as of now but were just taking precautionary measures for the festivals.

As per the report, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co offered two additional shipments of LPG to India to fill in for Aramco. The cargoes will reach the country in the next couple of weeks.

India is the second largest LPG importer in the world and it gets around half of its requirements from foreign suppliers, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. Not only because of the festive season, demand for LPG has also increased after the government's push for the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) that seeks to distribute LPG connections to poor families.

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