🔗 Share this article ‘An Alarming State of Affairs’: Hostilities on Iran Squeezes India's Kitchen Fuel Availability. People queue up to buy cooking gas cylinders for household consumption in a major Indian city. The repercussions of a conflict being fought nearly 3,000km away are now being felt in India's kitchens. As US-Israeli strikes on Iran impede energy transports through the key maritime chokepoint, availability of kitchen fuel are tightening across India, forcing restaurants to shorten food lists, close earlier and in some cases shut down altogether. Social media is flooded by video clips showing crowds outside fuel suppliers across Indian metros and localities as anxieties over fuel supplies grow. Restaurant kitchens appear the worst hit: the most severe shortage is in food service establishments. "The situation is dire. Cooking gas simply cannot be found," says a representative of the a major restaurant body. Most restaurants run either on commercial LPG cylinders or piped gas, and the lack of supply are now being felt across the country. "Many restaurants have ceased operations - some in northern India, many in the southern states. People are adopting coal and wood and electronic appliances to keep their operations going." Regional Impact In a financial hub, media reports say up to a significant portion of hotels and restaurants are already fully or partly shut as cylinder availability dwindle. In the southern cities of Bengaluru and Chennai, some restaurants say their cylinder inventory have dwindled with little backup. "We can only make coffee and nothing else - it is truly dismal. Businesses are going to suffer," says a business operator in Bengaluru. A food joint in a southern city which has shut down due to a scarcity of cooking gas. Restaurant owners are scrambling to adapt. "Food options are being cut, some are cutting lunch service and reducing hours," an industry representative says, adding that shutdowns are changing as supplies come and go. "Several establishments in Delhi were shut yesterday - a couple are back in business. It's a dynamic scenario." Retailers observe a spike in sales of electronic cooking appliances, with some saying they are selling out quickly. Government Stance Yet, the authorities insists there is adequate supply. India has more than 300 million household consumers and officials say supplies are being reallocated to households as geopolitical strain from the regional hostilities affect energy markets. Roughly six out of ten of India's LPG is imported, and about nine out of ten of those consignments pass through the key maritime route, the vital passage now effectively closed by the hostilities. The oil ministry says that it directed refineries to maximise LPG output for household consumption, lifting domestic production by about a significant margin. Business-grade fuel is being allocated for critical services such as healthcare and education, while distribution will be "fair and transparent". "A degree of anxious stocking and accumulation has been sparked by false reports. The regular refill period for home fuel remains about 60 hours," says a senior official. Widening Concern Now the worry is spreading beyond kitchens. On social media, a widely shared video from Chennai shows a lengthy, winding line of two-wheelers outside a fuel station. "The panic is real," the text reads. India brings in up to 90% of the petroleum it requires, leaving it particularly vulnerable to interruptions in international markets. According to analysis from industry analysts, concerns about India's broader energy security may be overstated. India imports almost all of its oil. Around a significant portion of its petroleum shipments - about 2.5-2.7 million barrels a day - travel through the waterway, largely from Middle Eastern nations. Even if oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are blocked, the deficit could be partly compensated for by higher imports of Russian petroleum, according to a industry commentator. Based on maritime intelligence and industry information, incremental Russian crude imports could reach around a significant volume of barrels a day, narrowing India's effective shortfall from exposure to the Strait of Hormuz to about 1.6 million barrels a day. "A large quantity of Russian oil barrels are currently floating on ships in the Indian Ocean and, with only key buyers as major buyers, those barrels remain a available backup," an analyst noted. LPG: The Real Vulnerability The primary concern is kitchen fuel, experts note. India consumes roughly one million barrels a day, but produces only 40-45% domestically, importing the rest - most of it through the chokepoint. Refineries can modify output to squeeze out a bit more LPG, but even a limited rise would only raise domestic supply to about 47-50% of demand, leaving the country significantly leaning on imports. In short: "Crude supply risk can be moderately reduced through diversification. Processed petroleum stocks remains fairly adequate. LPG availability is the critical issue to monitor in the coming weeks." What may be intensifying the panic on the ground is not just limited availability but patchy deliveries - and the familiar spectre of stockpiling. An industry representative alleges price gouging. "Distributors are exploiting the situation - illegally trading canisters and selling them at a high cost. In one small town, I heard of cylinders being accumulated and auctioned off." For now, India's petroleum stocks may be protected by global trade flows. But in homes across the country, the more urgent issue is simple: how to get the next refill.
People queue up to buy cooking gas cylinders for household consumption in a major Indian city. The repercussions of a conflict being fought nearly 3,000km away are now being felt in India's kitchens. As US-Israeli strikes on Iran impede energy transports through the key maritime chokepoint, availability of kitchen fuel are tightening across India, forcing restaurants to shorten food lists, close earlier and in some cases shut down altogether. Social media is flooded by video clips showing crowds outside fuel suppliers across Indian metros and localities as anxieties over fuel supplies grow. Restaurant kitchens appear the worst hit: the most severe shortage is in food service establishments. "The situation is dire. Cooking gas simply cannot be found," says a representative of the a major restaurant body. Most restaurants run either on commercial LPG cylinders or piped gas, and the lack of supply are now being felt across the country. "Many restaurants have ceased operations - some in northern India, many in the southern states. People are adopting coal and wood and electronic appliances to keep their operations going." Regional Impact In a financial hub, media reports say up to a significant portion of hotels and restaurants are already fully or partly shut as cylinder availability dwindle. In the southern cities of Bengaluru and Chennai, some restaurants say their cylinder inventory have dwindled with little backup. "We can only make coffee and nothing else - it is truly dismal. Businesses are going to suffer," says a business operator in Bengaluru. A food joint in a southern city which has shut down due to a scarcity of cooking gas. Restaurant owners are scrambling to adapt. "Food options are being cut, some are cutting lunch service and reducing hours," an industry representative says, adding that shutdowns are changing as supplies come and go. "Several establishments in Delhi were shut yesterday - a couple are back in business. It's a dynamic scenario." Retailers observe a spike in sales of electronic cooking appliances, with some saying they are selling out quickly. Government Stance Yet, the authorities insists there is adequate supply. India has more than 300 million household consumers and officials say supplies are being reallocated to households as geopolitical strain from the regional hostilities affect energy markets. Roughly six out of ten of India's LPG is imported, and about nine out of ten of those consignments pass through the key maritime route, the vital passage now effectively closed by the hostilities. The oil ministry says that it directed refineries to maximise LPG output for household consumption, lifting domestic production by about a significant margin. Business-grade fuel is being allocated for critical services such as healthcare and education, while distribution will be "fair and transparent". "A degree of anxious stocking and accumulation has been sparked by false reports. The regular refill period for home fuel remains about 60 hours," says a senior official. Widening Concern Now the worry is spreading beyond kitchens. On social media, a widely shared video from Chennai shows a lengthy, winding line of two-wheelers outside a fuel station. "The panic is real," the text reads. India brings in up to 90% of the petroleum it requires, leaving it particularly vulnerable to interruptions in international markets. According to analysis from industry analysts, concerns about India's broader energy security may be overstated. India imports almost all of its oil. Around a significant portion of its petroleum shipments - about 2.5-2.7 million barrels a day - travel through the waterway, largely from Middle Eastern nations. Even if oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz are blocked, the deficit could be partly compensated for by higher imports of Russian petroleum, according to a industry commentator. Based on maritime intelligence and industry information, incremental Russian crude imports could reach around a significant volume of barrels a day, narrowing India's effective shortfall from exposure to the Strait of Hormuz to about 1.6 million barrels a day. "A large quantity of Russian oil barrels are currently floating on ships in the Indian Ocean and, with only key buyers as major buyers, those barrels remain a available backup," an analyst noted. LPG: The Real Vulnerability The primary concern is kitchen fuel, experts note. India consumes roughly one million barrels a day, but produces only 40-45% domestically, importing the rest - most of it through the chokepoint. Refineries can modify output to squeeze out a bit more LPG, but even a limited rise would only raise domestic supply to about 47-50% of demand, leaving the country significantly leaning on imports. In short: "Crude supply risk can be moderately reduced through diversification. Processed petroleum stocks remains fairly adequate. LPG availability is the critical issue to monitor in the coming weeks." What may be intensifying the panic on the ground is not just limited availability but patchy deliveries - and the familiar spectre of stockpiling. An industry representative alleges price gouging. "Distributors are exploiting the situation - illegally trading canisters and selling them at a high cost. In one small town, I heard of cylinders being accumulated and auctioned off." For now, India's petroleum stocks may be protected by global trade flows. But in homes across the country, the more urgent issue is simple: how to get the next refill.