India needs to diversify LPG sources: Ex-BPCL CMD amid energy constraints

As the government invoked the Essential Commodities Act (ECA) for the uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas, experts say that India needs to look for more sources of LPG in the wake of the West Asia conflict.  

Ex-BPCL CMD G Krishnakumar says that Saudi Arabia was the main source for LPG, but we have diversified to the US and Norway. “Probably, we have to look for more sources. We have been looking at various options, but we need to be sure of the supply source as it also needs to be steady,” he told Business Today.  

Krishnakumar, who retired as BPCL CMD last year, says that while various options are being looked at, it should also be economically viable for us.

“There have lot of targeted efforts to improve usage of LPG. Targeted government initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojan (PMUY) have deepened structural consumption patterns by shifting millions of households from traditional cooking fuels to LPG,” he added.

On the LPG storage, Krishnakumar says the way to go about is LPG cavern, HPCL has recently introduced a cavern in Mangalore and BPCL was also looking at options of an LPG cavern where some stock can be stored.

“However, it is a long-term process not easy,” he added.

LPG supplies have been hit in the country due to the escalating conflict in the Gulf region. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has directed refiners to channel the entire output of C3 and C4 streams—including propane, butane, propylene and butenes—towards LPG production.

Under the order, these streams must be supplied exclusively to the three state-run oil marketing companies—Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation—which together account for nearly the entire distribution of domestic LPG in the country.

The ministry has also barred refineries and petrochemical complexes from diverting these streams for petrochemical production or other downstream uses, in a move aimed at prioritising household LPG supply.