Indian Oil Buys 43,000 Tons Of Iranian LPG, India's First Under US Waiver

Indian Oil Corporation has bought liquefied petroleum gas from Iran, marking India’s first energy shipment from the war-torn nation after the United States’ waiver.

The purchase also marks Indian Oil’s first in eight years. The state-owned company had last bought Iranian LPG in 2018, according to a report by Bloomberg.

Indian Oil will be sharing the supplies with Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum, according to the report.

The Iranian shipment carried 43,000 tons of butane and propane, the main constituents of LPG.

India is currently facing a severe energy crisis as it depends on imports for over 65 percent of its LPG consumption. About 90 percent of the imports were from the West Asian region, which is struck by war.

The warring sides in the United States-Israel-Iran war have attacked each other’s energy facilities. This has led to shutdowns of various natural gas facilities, including Qatar’s Ras refinery, the world’s largest gas exporting unit.

Moreover, trade through the Strait of Hormuz has been blocked by Iran after the war. The Strait catered to about 20 percent of the world’s energy requirements.

Since then, India has been facing a shortage of natural gas, leading the government to prioritise domestic consumption over commercial use.
Out of the total LPG consumption in India, about 86 percent comes from households, while the rest is from commercial establishments like restaurants, eateries, and hotels.

The government has imposed a limit of 50 percent supply of LPG cylinders to commercial establishments. It has also ordered domestic users to switch to piped natural gas to free up cylinders amid delayed supplies.

During the last decade, the country’s LPG consumption has increased by 74 percent, mainly because of the government’s push to shift households from polluting and hazardous fuels to cleaner fuel.

So far, the government has added 10 crore households under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana. As of March 1, 2025, the total number of active domestic LPG consumers in India stood at 32.94 crore, covering almost every household in the country.