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Indian public sector companies have signed a one-year agreement to import LPG from the United States for the first time.
What’s brewing: the deal covers about 2.2 million tonnes of LPG every year, which is nearly 10% of all the LPG India normally imports in a year.
Representatives from Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum recently travelled to the US to hold discussions with major American LPG producers.
India is one of the world’s biggest users of LPG, mainly for cooking. But we produce only around 35% of what we need. The remaining 65% has to be imported, which makes India heavily dependent on other countries for its cooking gas supply.
What this means for consumers: this gives India an additional source of LPG, allowing the government to protect households from sudden spikes in global energy prices.
Even though international prices jumped nearly 60% in the past year, India has still managed to keep domestic LPG cylinder rates stable.
While shipping LPG from the US is more expensive, this agreement between Indian oil companies and American suppliers also signals a positive shift in bilateral ties. It could help revive momentum toward a broader trade partnership between the two countries.
