Natural Gas Prices Plummet on Warmer February Forecast
Natural gas prices in the United States dropped by 17% in Asian trade on Monday, driven by forecasts for milder weather in the coming weeks. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cited by Bloomberg suggests that while most of the U.S. remains in the grip of cold winter weather, this is about to change, with parts of the country expected to see warmer-than-usual weather later this month. Earlier this month, U.S. natural gas soared 117% over just five days amid the cold spell that led to a surge in the demand for heating and also reduced production, shrinking supply for both domestic consumption and LNG exports. ING analysts estimated that gas deliveries to LNG plants were down by as much as 48% last week. While this happened, across the Atlantic, Europe saw its gas in storage continue to drain at much faster rates than usual. As of Saturday, the latest available data, EU gas in storage was at 41.13%. Germany’s was at 32.44%. Both levels are a lot lower than the average for the last five years. Now, however, U.S. natural gas is down to $3.62 per mmBtu, which means that LNG prices are also going down, and Europe might get some respite on the spot market as gas storage refill season approaches. Meanwhile, BloombergNEF reported, as cited by Nasdaq, that gas production affected by the snowstorms in the Lower 48 was gradually recovering, although it was still well short of demand. At 110 billion cu ft daily, the Friday production rate was 3.4% higher than a year ago but below the 128.7 billion cu ft in demand on that day.
QatarEnergy signs 17-year LNG supply agreement with India’s GSPC
Qatar Energy has signed a 17-year agreement with Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) to supply up to one million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to India, the company announced on Wednesday, October 29. The contracted LNG volumes will be delivered ex-ship, directly to Indian terminals from 2026. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy affairs minister and the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, expressed continued commitment to supporting India’s growing energy needs.
India’s first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering facility to come up at Vizhinjam
The first ship-to-ship Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering facility in the country will be set up at Vizhinjam International Seaport in Kerala. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) have entered a strategic partnership to establish the first ship-to-ship LNG bunkering facility at Vizhinjam. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on the eve of India Maritime Week 2025, which is being held in Mumbai from October 27 to 31, marking a defining moment in the nation’s maritime energy transition. The agreement was formally exchanged between Ashwani Gupta, wholetime director and CEO, APSEZ, and Rahul Tandon, Business Head, Gas, BPCL. The facility at Vizhinjam Port will serve as a dedicated LNG refuelling hub for international vessels transiting the East-West global shipping corridor. By offering an alternative to conventional marine fuels, the project will enable shipping lines to significantly reduce emissions, aligning India’s maritime industry with the International Maritime Organisation’s decarbonisation targets.
BPCL buys crude from every place including Russia based on viability: CMD
State-owned BPCL has said its crude procurement is based on techno-commercial viability for its refineries and it buys from every geography including Russia. BPCL Chairman and Managing Director Sanjay Khanna said that currently preparation of Detailed Feasibility Report (DFR) is underway for the company’s proposed Greenfield Refinery and Petrochemical Complex near Ramayapatnam Port in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh and obtaining necessary environmental clearances. “We buy oil from every geography and the oil which is most techno-commercially viable for the refinery, not only me (BPCL), every refiner goes for it. So that is the stand, be it Russian oil or any oil for that matter. That is how we go for it. Whichever is giving us the highest value for the company ensures the reliable operations, Khanna told PTI A senior official of the Department of Petroleum and Natural Gas replying to a query on the crude imports from Russia on Tuesday said those decisions are not taken at the country level but at respective company level. “Companies decide what the most economical oil is and in compliance with the law,” the official told PTI. The official further said there was no direction for the government to any crude importers whether to buy or not to buy from Russia.
India to build own fleet of oil tankers, aims to cut USD 8 Billion charter costs: Hardeep Puri
ndia is planning a major shift in its energy shipping strategy by building its own fleet of oil tankers to reduce the massive freight costs currently paid to foreign vessel operators, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced on Wednesday. The Tribune Subscription Banner Speaking at India Maritime Week 2025 in Mumbai, Puri revealed that India’s three major oil marketing companies–Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum–spend approximately USD 8 billion over five years on chartering foreign ships, an amount sufficient to purchase an entirely new fleet of crude-oil tankers The Minister highlighted a striking imbalance, while the oil and gas sector accounts for nearly 28 per cent of India’s total trade by volume, making it the single largest commodity group at Indian ports, only around 20 per cent of this cargo is carried on Indian-flagged or Indian-owned vessels. “This challenge we are now turning into an opportunity,” Puri stated, outlining plans to significantly boost India’s maritime capabilities in the energy sector. India’s energy import dependence remains substantial, with the country meeting nearly 88 per cent of its crude oil and 51 per cent of its natural gas requirements through imports. In the fiscal year 2024-25, the crude import bill alone crossed USD 150 billion.
India Extends Largest Oil & Gas Auction Deadline to Dec 2025
The Indian government has once again extended the deadline for submitting bids in the latest oil and gas block auction, known as the OALP-X licensing round. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) announced that the new deadline is December 31, 2025. This decision allows prospective investors additional time to participate in the country’s largest acreage offering to date. Originally scheduled to close in July, the deadline was first pushed to the end of October. The OALP-X round, launched during India Energy Week 2025 in New Delhi, includes 25 blocks covering around 191,986 square kilometers. The offering spans a variety of onshore and offshore blocks across 13 sedimentary basins, including the potential-rich Andaman basin. OALP-X features significant policy benefits under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy, such as reduced royalties and marketing freedoms. As India seeks to bolster its domestic oil and gas production, this latest round offers promising opportunities for both state-owned and private companies, aiming to address the country’s soaring import bill.
Petroleum Secretary calls for bold, time-bound deepwater exploration for India’s energy self-reliance
Petroleum and Natural Gas Secretary Pankaj Jain on Sunday called for bold, time-bound exploration strategies aligned with the National Deepwater Mission, emphasising urgency, innovation, and national responsibility in realising India’s energy self-reliance, or Atmanirbharta. Delivering the keynote at the 15th Biennial International Conference and Exposition of the Society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG-India) 2025, themed “Rock to Cloud: GeoExploration Empowering Energy Evolution in Jaipur, the Secretary urged the stakeholders to combine scientific rigour with commercial vision, noting that India can no longer afford incremental progress. “One day, not too far off, we will be looking at a situation where there will be alternative forms of energy, which will increasingly matter more to us in terms of the incremental demand satisfaction, than fossil fuels, or the way we use fossil fuels itself is going to change. And therefore, it doesn’t matter what the peak will be, when the peak will be; the fact is that we have to try to get those big discoveries,” the secretary said, as per a statement from ONGC. Deep Ocean Mission, launched in 2021, focuses on sustainably harnessing ocean wealth and strengthening the Blue Economy. “We do not have the luxury we used to have a hundred years ago or 150 years ago,” added Secretary Pankaj Jain. On August 15, from the ramparts of the Red Fort this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, “To make the country developed, we are now moving towards ‘Samudra Manthan’ (churning of the ocean). Taking forward our Samudra Manthan, we want to work in a mission mode towards finding oil reserves, gas reserves under the sea and hence India is going to start the National Deep Water Exploration Mission. This is our important announcement to become energy independent.” The Conference was inaugurated today at the Jaipur Exhibition and Convention Centre (JECC). The conference was inaugurated by the Secretary Jain, in the presence of Chairman and CEO, ONGC and Chief Patron, SPG-India, Arun Kumar Singh, CMD, Oil India Ltd., Dr. Ranjit Rath, Director (Exploration), ONGC, and Patron, SPG-India, O.P. Sinha, and President, SPG-India, Ranbir Singh. Addressing the gathering, ONGC CEO Arun Kumar Singh reaffirmed ONGC’s commitment to advancing India’s deepwater exploration mission, stressing that technological breakthroughs in seismic imaging, AI-driven interpretation, and data analytics will define the next leap in discovery success. CMD, Oil India, Ranjit Rath underscored that India has emerged as one of the most promising destinations for exploration, supported by progressive reforms such as the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), and the Offshore Bidding Rounds. Rath called upon India’s geo-scientific community to remain “restless in pursuit of exploration” and deepen efforts in frontier basins, particularly in ultra-deepwater domains.
Russia to remain India’s No 1 crude oil supplier: Analysts
India’s crude oil imports from Russia saw a marginal decline in September, but continued to account for over one-third of the country’s total oil purchases, despite US pressure to curb the trade over concerns that it supports Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. India’s crude imports in September were around 4.7 million barrels per day, up 2,20,000 bpd month-on-month and flat year-on-year. Russian crude maintained its position as the largest single supplier, contributing about 1.6 million bpd – a 34 per cent share. However, this was roughly 1,60,000 bpd below the average Russian volumes imported during the first eight months of 2025, preliminary data by global trade analytics firm Kpler showed. “Despite the dip, Russian barrels remain among the most economical feedstock options for Indian refiners, given their high GPW (gross product worth) margins and discounts relative to alternatives,” said Sumit Ritolia, Lead Research Analyst (Refining & Modelling) at Kpler. Iraq was the second biggest crude oil supplier to India at around 8,81,115 bpd, followed by Saudi Arabia at 6,03,471 bpd and the UAE at 5,94,152 bpd. The United States was India’s fifth largest supplier at 2,06,667 bpd.
Economics trumps politics: India’s US oil, LNG imports slump sharply
Shipments of crude oil from the US to India dropped by an average of 40 per cent in August and September—coinciding with US President Donald Trump ratcheting up pressure on India—from July levels. Senior industry officials told Business Standard that when it comes to oil and gas, “economics trumps politics”. Imports of LNG from the US declined by 41 per cent last month from a year earlier and by 23 per cent month-on-month. Deliveries of US crude oil in August and September averaged 220,000 barrels per day compared to 364,000 bpd in July, according to data from maritime intelligence agency Kpler. Imports in September were 30,000 bpd lower year-on-year and 23,000 bpd lower month-on-month. US supplies are contracted 45–60 days in advance, which means July is typically contracted in May/June and August/September arrivals are ordered in July/August. Trump announced plans for secondary tariffs on India in July. LNG shipments from the US to India shrank to 0.27 million tonnes last month from 0.46 million tonnes a year earlier and 0.35 million tonnes in August, the data showed. Nine months into 2025, US purchases at 2 million tonnes this year are well below the 5 million tonnes imported in 2024. State-run distributor GAIL, the biggest purchaser of US LNG, which had signed term contracts for a little less than 6 million tonnes a year a decade ago, has found it more profitable to swap its US cargoes than bring them to India, an industry official said.
India’s oil market splits as state refiners cut Russian crude & private players ramp up buys
India’s oil market is split, with state-run refiners retreating from Russian crude amid US pressure and narrowing discounts while private refiners are stepping up sourcing State-run refiners cut Russian crude purchases in September, signalling caution. Their imports averaged 605,000 barrels per day (bpd) — 32% below their April-August average, 22% lower than in August, and 45% below June levels, according to Kpler, a global real-time data and analytics provider. Private refiners lifted 979,000 bpd of Russian oil, 4% above their April-August average, 8% higher than in August, and nearly unchanged from June. Russian crude accounted for just one in five barrels imported by state-run firms in September, and two in three barrels procured by local private refiners. Industry executives cited a mix of factors: rising risks around Russian volumes amid heightened US pressure to curb imports, narrowing discounts, and the need for state companies to diversify supply. With their larger responsibility toward the domestic market, state firms prioritise security over price, they said. Private companies, which hold only about 10% of the local retail market, toggle between domestic and export sales to chase profit, they added.