Elon Musk Says Oil Is “Small-Time”
With six little words, Elon Musk has relegated the oil industry to a historical footnote. This, despite the oil industry underpinning the workings of the entire world. “Compared to solar, oil is small-time,” Musk posted on X, delivering a withering verdict on the fossil fuel era. No charts, no caveats. Just a blunt assertion that the sun—not crude oil—will define the future of global energy. From a man whose fortunes straddle both electricity and ambition, the message was clear: oil may have powered the past, but it won’t own what comes next. The statement from Musk, however, doesn’t mean that fossil fuels are irrelevant. Musk warned in 2022 that the world would need to continue extracting oil and gas lest civilization start to crumble. “Realistically, I think we need to use oil and gas in the short term because otherwise, civilization will crumble,” adding that the transition to sustainable energy would “take some decades to complete.” At the time, Musk implored those who would listen to extract more oil and gas—not less. He also cautioned against demonizing fossil fuels. Musk’s latest statement doesn’t necessarily run contrary to that, but it does shine a light on his view on sustainable energy—solar will be king someday—and despite oil’s current dominance, it is without long-term relevance. Still, for an industry that fuels 80% of global energy demand, the comment comes as a gut punch. Whether it proves visionary or premature will depend on how quickly the world can resolve solar’s storage and scalability challenges—two serious hurdles that solar critics have highlighted for years. But betting against Musk’s version of the future is a risky proposition. He’s not just talking up solar—he’s building the factories, the batteries, and the grid-scale operations needed to make it dominant. For oil, the warning is implicit: your reign isn’t over, but the countdown has started.
Qatar’s share in India’s LNG imports hits 3-year low as US gains ground
According to the GIIGNL’s 2025 report, India imported 27 million tonnes of LNG in 2024, marking a 23 per cent year-on-year growth, the second-largest global rebound The move by India to procure more liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes from the US to compensate for trade imbalances is eating into the share of its top supplier, Qatar, which hit a three-year low in the 2024 calendar year (CY). The Arab country, which usually accounts for half of India’s LNG imports, saw its share dip below 50 per cent last year. GIIGNL, the international association of LNG importers, pointed out in its 2025 annual report that India recorded the second-largest rebound among LNG importers, with shipments hitting 27 million tonnes (mt) last year, an increase of 5 mt, or 23 per cent year over year. At the end of the 2024 CY, the US share grew to almost one-fifth of India’s cumulative inbound cargoes, more than doubling in a span of five years. It accounted for 19 per cent of the total imports in 2024′ Qatar remained India’s top LNG supplier but its share declined to 42 per cent, compared to 50 per cent in 2023 and 53 per cent in 2022. The UAE, which lost its spot as India’s second-largest LNG supplier to the US in 2023, cornered a little over one-tenth of the volumes procured by the world’s fourth-largest LNG importer last year.
The oil market has a bigger problem than a slowing China – India
India is the stuff of dreams for OPEC and Big Oil: a rapidly developing nation of nearly 1.5 billion people where petroleum consumption is still in its infancy. It’s the next China — so the theory goes. Perhaps one day, but in 2025 it’s still the stuff of dreams. For years, energy economists have talked about “structural tailwinds” — including benign demographics, a burgeoning middle class and accelerating urbanization and industrialization — that would propel Indian oil demand. Those phenomena turned China into the world’s engine of petroleum demand growth (along with everything else) for a quarter century. From 2000 to 2025, the Asian giant added an average of 485,000 barrels a day every year to global consumption. Now, the boom is ending. Weighed down by slower economic growth and the rapid uptake of electric cars, Chinese oil demand will expand by 135,000 barrels a day this year, according to the International Energy Agency. Except for the pandemic period, that would be the smallest annual increase since 2005. If the bulls were right, India would be taking over by now. But it isn’t: For the last three months, its oil demand growth has been contracting. As things stand, India consumption may increase by as little as 130,000 barrels a day this year, about half what many thought a year ago; if confirmed, that would be the smallest annual increase in a decade, excluding the pandemic period.
Rising power demand pushes India’s LNG terminal utilisation higher in 2024
India’s LNG imports rose by more than 19% to 26.15 mt in 2024 against 21.96 mt in 2023 A searing summer coupled with prolonged heat waves accelerated India’s power demand last year with the world’s third largest energy consumer enhancing gas-based electricity generation, leading to higher utilisation at LNG terminals compared to 2023 and 2022. Natural gas is converted into LNG for transporting it through gas tankers. Regasification is the process of converting it back into gas. Higher LNG imports lead to higher utilisation levels at LNG terminals. According to the International Gas Union’s (IGU) world LNG report 2025, India’s LNG imports rose by more than 19 per cent to 26.15 million tonnes (mt) in 2024 against 21.96 mt in 2023, a 4.19 mt Y-o-Y increase. India accounted for 6.36 per cent of the global LNG market last year. China (19.12 per cent share), Japan (16.47 per cent), South Korea (11.43 per cent) and France (4.39 per cent) are the other top four LNG importing countries. Demand rebounded in Asia with China and India posting strong Y-o-Y growth in spot LNG imports, driven by heat waves, infrastructure expansions, and greater reliance on gas-for-power, IGU pointed out. Higher Utilisation “Average regasification utilisation in India grew noticeably in 2024 from 49 per cent in the prior year (2023) to 59 per cent, as the market raised LNG buying to meet gas for power demand due to heat waves,” the report pointed out. Regasification utilisation in 2023 was flat at 49 per cent compared to the 2022 CY, IGU data show. On the back of its regasification capacity additions, India witnessed rapid growth in LNG imports during 2010-2020, making it one of the top importing markets. It rose to become the world’s fourth largest LNG importer in 2023, with 22 mt imports, replacing France. India has seven LNG terminals with a cumulative capacity of 44.5 mt per annum (mtpa) as of 2024 (CY), overtaking the US to become the world’s fifth largest market by regasification capacity. Three new terminals and four expansion projects are under construction in India, of which five are onshore and two are floating based. By 2026, these undertakings are projected to bring 27 mtpa of regasification capacity and 1.12 million cubic meters (mcm) of storage capacity online, it added. Uncertainties Sustained low prices associated with the arrival of the next wave of LNG capacity could spark a surge in LNG demand. However, the outlook is clouded by the risk of delays and cost overruns in new supply and expansion projects emanating from factors such as geopolitics, trade policy, inflation, and labour shortages, IGU pointed out. “In Asia, most of the demand risk lies in India’s and China’s energy mix and economic outlook. When prices were elevated in late 2024, the price arbitrage for US cargoes into Asia was firmly shut as China and India shunned significant spot procurement.