India’s Gas Demand Bounces Back Above 197 MMSCMD as LNG Sourcing Offsets Qatar Outage
A 13% surge in liquefied natural gas imports helped push consumption past pre-crisis levels despite domestic production dips.
India's natural gas consumption rebounded 6.8% month-on-month in June 2026, climbing past pre-Iran crisis baselines to exceed 197 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd), according to a sectoral report by JM Financial.
The sequential rise of 12.6 mmscmd represents a 1.5% increase year-on-year and puts consumption 1.4% above the February 2026 baseline recorded before geopolitical disruption in the Middle East. The recovery was driven primarily by imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), with demand surging 13% month-on-month to approximately 110 mmscmd.
Offsetting the Qatar Shutdown
The rebound follows significant disruptions earlier in the year caused by the shutdown of Qatar's 82 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) LNG facility in March 2026. That outage initially removed 40 mmscmd—roughly 9.5 to 10 mmtpa—from India's import supply.
However, alternative import sourcing largely compensated for the deficit, enabling broad-based consumption recovery across industrial sectors. To mitigate supply risks, India widened its LNG sourcing footprint from six countries to 15, while expanding its crude oil procurement network from 27 to 41 nations.
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi stated in Parliament that diversifying suppliers is designed to lessen reliance on any single producer, region, or transit route, improving the country's capacity to absorb market volatility.
Domestic Production Trends
While imports bounced back, domestic gas extraction softened slightly in June 2026. Total domestic gas output slipped 0.3% month-on-month and fell 7.7% year-on-year to 87.1 mmscmd.
State-owned explorer ONGC saw production rise 2.8% sequentially to 50.4 mmscmd, though that figure was down 1.8% compared to June 2025. Meanwhile, Oil India recorded a 5.7% monthly decline, with output settling at 7.7 mmscmd.
Alongside diversified import contracts, India is relying on storage infrastructure to manage international shocks. Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd maintains three operational strategic petroleum reserves with a combined capacity of 5.33 million metric tonnes (MMT) across Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Two additional approved facilities totaling 6.5 MMT in Odisha and Karnataka are not yet operational.
