‘We develop national infra when…’: Oil Secy as Strait of Hormuz disruption worsens

US-Iran war: Neeraj Mittal, secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), said that India must develop its national infrastructure during normal times, highlighting the country’s high dependence on imports through the Strait of Hormuz. “The West Asia or the Gulf crisis has shown that what we develop as national infrastructure when things are not as bad as they could be, we forget to plan for adversities,” he said.

Mittal pointed out that while the world’s energy dependence on Hormuz is roughly 20 per cent, India’s reliance is much higher for crude oil, natural gas, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

“In LPG, our import dependence comes roughly to about 90 per cent on the Strait of Hormuz,” he added at an industry event on Thursday.

Amid the ongoing West Asia crisis, India is experiencing a sharper shortage of LPG compared with crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) due to its greater import dependence on the region. Mittal said that over the past decade, the country has taken steps to diversify its energy sources.

DON’T MISS | ‘Even in our most hopeful scenario…’: IMF flags global growth downgrade

Crude oil imports now come from 41 countries, up from 27 previously, while LNG sourcing has expanded from six to 30 countries. LPG sourcing has also grown from 10 to 15 countries.

Mittal emphasised the importance of increasing the use of natural gas in India’s energy mix to enhance energy security, in line with the government’s target of raising the natural gas share to 15 per cent by 2030.

Furthermore, he explained that energy security is not just about having enough gas or molecules, but much more than that. 

“Energy security is not just about having enough gas or molecules, it is also about if we can secure our environment. Can we get it at the proper cost? Will it be sustainable? Do we have enough sources to buy in such an eventuality? And that’s where natural gas fits in,” he explained.

Mittal also noted that city gas distribution (CGD) companies need to improve customer service and infrastructure development speed to meet expansion goals effectively. Regarding the blending of compressed biogas (CBG) with piped natural gas (PNG), he suggested that the initiative should be consolidated under a single framework instead of being managed by five different government ministries.