India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas lifted most provisions of the emergency natural gas supply regulation order on Saturday, after liquefied natural gas cargo movements through the Strait of Hormuz resumed following a ceasefire between the United States and Iran. The withdrawal marks a return to normal procurement and allocation rules for the country, which relies on imports for roughly half its natural gas and 88 per cent of its crude oil consumption.

The emergency order, issued on 9 March under the Essential Commodities Act, had granted New Delhi powers to redirect domestic and imported gas to priority consumers—households, compressed natural gas transport, fertiliser plants, and LPG production—after several suppliers invoked force majeure and diverted shipments away from India. The US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, and Tehran’s retaliatory attacks, effectively closed the narrow waterway through which about one-fifth of global LNG trade and over half of India’s LNG imports pass. Two accompanying measures, requiring refiners to maximise LPG output and restricting diesel sales to bulk consumers, were withdrawn earlier as the supply situation normalised.

Viewed from New Delhi, the episode underscored a structural vulnerability. Around 40–45 per cent of India’s crude imports and nearly 65 per cent of its LNG supplies originate in West Asia, most transiting Hormuz. While crude procurement was diversified to include more barrels from Russia, Africa, and Latin America during the crisis, gas imports proved less flexible: the bulk of Qatari LNG, a mainstay for Indian terminals, moves exclusively through the strait. The disruption forced the government to cut supplies to petrochemical plants and power stations, guaranteeing only 70 per cent of average needs to fertiliser makers and 80 per cent to industrial consumers.

With Hormuz traffic tentatively restored under a temporary deal, attention is turning to a longer-term response. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Agence France-Presse that the supply crunch had given fresh impetus to domestic exploration, and that the government is preparing to auction approximately 250,000 square kilometres of unexplored sedimentary basins. A national deepwater mission, already announced in 2025, is advancing with technical support from international firms, and a recent exploratory well in the Andaman Sea produced a gas flare. New Delhi’s own consumption, however, continues to climb by three times the global average, leaving the economy exposed should Hormuz transit again be interrupted.

The next milestone is the formal launch of the bidding round for the unexplored acreage, while the interim ceasefire arrangement between Washington and Tehran remains subject to ongoing negotiations.