India ordered oil and gas companies to share information on exports, imports and inventories with the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) to guard against shortages amid rising global prices triggered by the US-Israeli war on Iran. The government order requires firms to provide data regardless of any contract, agreement or confidentiality obligation and bars refusal on grounds of commercial sensitivity or proprietary claims. The directive applies across the fuel and gas supply chain.

The data collection is intended to enable faster, more targeted interventions such as export restrictions or calibrated export flows to safeguard domestic energy security. Prashant Vashisth, vice president at Moody's affiliate ICRA, said India could use excess refining capacity to prioritise supplies to friendly or strategically aligned countries after meeting local demand. He added that availability is becoming a greater concern than price.

The order covers all companies in the oil and gas chain, including producers, importers, refiners, fuel and gas retailers, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) importers, pipeline operators and petrochemical plants. Any curbs on fuel exports would primarily affect Reliance Industries, operator of the world's biggest refining complex, while several other refiners have largely halted exports. India is the world's fourth-largest refiner and third-biggest oil importer and consumer and meets over 90 per cent of its oil needs through overseas purchases.

Despite government assurances that supplies and refined fuel stocks are adequate, the country faces a severe cooking gas crisis as shipments from the Strait of Hormuz are almost halted and more than 40 per cent of crude imports and 90 per cent of liquefied petroleum gas imports come from the Middle East. The government has invoked emergency powers to order refiners to maximise LPG production and curtail sales to industry to avoid shortages for its 333 million homes with LPG connections while PPAC collects data to guide policy responses.