Amid Gulf conflict and supply shock, Centre classifies energy data as national security matter

Sujata Sharma, joint Secretary of petroleum & natural gas ministry, said the government is trying to tap energy cargoes from geographies outside West Asia.

• India labels energy data as national security amid supply crisis
• Entities must share real-time oil and gas data with government
• India diversifies energy imports due to disruptions in West Asia

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Amid the ongoing Middle East conflict that has disrupted supplies and led oil and energy prices to skyrocket, the Centre has officially classified energy-related data as a matter of national security.

As India is already reeling under an acute shortage of LPG gas due to a reduction in imports resulting from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz that has turned into a high war-risk zone, the move gives the government the authority to demand critical supply-chain data on a real-time basis.

Infact, the government has asked all entities across the oil and gas value chain to regularly furnish detailed operational information to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).

Issuing a gazette notification to this effect on March 18, the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas said, "The obligation to furnish information under this order shall apply notwithstanding anything contained in any contract, agreement, commercial arrangement or confidentiality obligation, and no entity shall refuse to furnish information required under this notification on the ground that such information is commercially sensitive or proprietary."

Sujata Sharma, joint secretary in the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas, said the data was being shared even earlier, but the notification will provide legal strength to the practice.

According to the notification, every entity engaged in the production, processing, refining, storage, transportation, import, export, marketing, distribution or consumption of petroleum products or natural gas will be required to furnish the data to ministry's PPAC.

The data to be disclosed includes production, imports, stock levels and consumption patterns, with the order overriding existing confidentiality provisions.

With a squeeze on energy supplies, the petroleum ministry reiterated that the government was trying to tap energy cargoes from geographies outside West Asia to make up for supply losses due to the military conflict.

According to Sharma, 90% of imported LPG was sourced from West Asia and 47% of natural gas from Qatar in the pre-conflict period, which is now unavailable due to force majeure declared by some facilities and disruptions in transit via the Strait of Hormuz.

"The impact is definitely there... We are dealing with it by picking up cargo from other sources. About 70% of crude is coming from areas outside the Strait of Hormuz (up from 55%). We are trying to diversify in LPG as well, with some supplies now coming from the US. Qatar is a big supplier of LNG, but we are now sourcing it from the US and Australia," said the joint secretary.

This week, Iran launched missile and drone attacks on major energy infrastructure across multiple Gulf countries, which significantly contribute a huge share of the world's oil and gas supplies. The attacks were in retaliation to the Israeli strikes on Iran's South Pars gas field.

In Qatar, Iranian strikes targeted as Ras Laffan Industrial City, which is the world’s largest LNG hub. Iran also attacked a refinery linked to Saudi Aramco in Saudi Arabia, besides carrying out attacks at oil refinery sites in Kuwait and gas facilities in UAE.