Gulf Oil Supply Crisis: The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that it could take up to six months to restore oil and gas flows from the Gulf as the supply of the fuel was severely hit due to a three-week US-Iran war in the Middle East. Even if the warring sides claimed that they would not target the fuel installations, the attacks on the refinery facilities are going on, deteriorating the global fuel situation further.
The IEA chief Fatih Birol, in an interview with the Financial Times on Friday, said the world is facing what could be the most severe energy crisis in history. "It will be six months for some (sites) to be operational, others much longer," he stated.
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Birol said politicians and markets were underestimating the scale of the disruption, with around one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies effectively stranded in the region, the report added.
Qatar LNG Capacity Down 17% For 5 Years
Just hours ago, it was reported that Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City significantly suffered disruption in the global energy supplies after being hit by Iranian missiles, reducing the country's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity by 17 per cent. QatarEnergy said the strikes, which occurred on March 18 and early March 19, 2026, caused extensive damage to key production facilities, claiming that it needs 5 years to repair the gas facility.
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How Will India Be Affected?
India is one of the biggest importers of Gulf fuel. India imports about 60 per cent of its LPG consumption, and out of these imports, about 90 per cent come through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been impacted due to the ongoing war.
India's total natural gas consumption is about 189 MMSCMD, of which 97.5 MMSCMD is produced domestically. About 47.4 MMSCMD of supply has been affected by the crisis in the Gulf region. India used to import around 45 per cent of its oil supply through the Persian Gulf.
However, recent measures of the diversification of the dependency reduced it to 30 per cent. The data shows that India is likely to be affected if the flow of Gulf oil remains low or is halted. However, the government has been working to diversify the sources of oil, which may ease some fuel stress in the Indian oil market.
(With agencies inputs)