Will LPG Crisis End As Iran-US Agree On A Two-Week Ceasefire? Controlled Iranian Access And Supply Delays Continue To Persist Amid West Asia Conflict

LPG CRISIS AMID WEST ASIA CONFLICT: The two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran, announced around April 7-8, let the world finally breathe after weeks of tension, especially since Operation Epic Fury kicked off back in late February. Iran agreed to coordinate safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, which matters a lot, since closing it sparked India’s worst cooking gas crisis in decades.

Right now, people in India’s crowded neighbourhoods and rented rooms all have one real question: When will my gas cylinder come back? Honestly, it’s not happening right away.

Why India’s LPG Crisis Won’t End Soon

The Strait is open, but only if Iran says so. Their ceasefire deal comes with a controlled protocol, run by Iran’s armed forces, so nothing has gone back to normal. Iran still decides who gets through, and when. 

So, what’s India doing to keep the LPG flowing? The government’s made it a priority, telling ports like Kandla to give LPG carriers first dibs. The Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways has been streamlining the whole process for LPG shipments, trying to keep kitchens running even while the Strait remains tricky. It’s all part of the bigger plan to keep supply steady, despite whatever’s going on outside India’s borders. 

India Faces Cooking Gas Shortage Amid West Asia Conflict

India was already being careful before the ceasefire. Eight Indian LPG carriers managed to cross the Strait, and tankers stranded in the Gulf are now getting loaded and moved out first.

The Sea Bird, an LPG ship carrying about 44,000 tonnes of Iranian gas, docked at Mangaluru earlier this month and is currently unloading. According to the Ministry of Petroleum, Indian refiners are buying crude oil and LPG from Iran again, thanks to a 30-day waiver from the US.

These steps matter, but honestly, they barely make a dent in the bigger problem. India only produces enough LPG at home to cover about 40% of what the country actually uses.

Strait of Hormuz Reopens but LPG Crisis Persists

The rest, the other 60%, comes from imports, and almost all of those shipments pass through the Strait of Hormuz. OilPrice.com says it’s around 90%. When a key supply route like that gets blocked for 39 days, you can’t just flip a switch and go back to normal in a week.

Even after cranking up refinery output by 25% using emergency powers, the country’s still falling behind. ORF Online put total LPG available at about 56 units, when a normal month would see 100. That’s before adding in emergency imports or people cutting back on demand. Things started to look better once the tankers got moving again, but we’re not out of the woods yet.

US IRAN WAR: Two-week ceasefire

Now, there’s a two-week ceasefire. If both sides keep talking and Hormuz stays open, the expectation is that household LPG supplies will slowly stabilise, maybe over three to six weeks.

Agency stocks will rebuild, the black market will shrink, and people’s lives might get back to something like normal. But if those talks break down and fighting kicks off again, well, even the ceasefire admits it’s just a pause, the shortages and chaos will come back, probably worse.

On April 7, the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry also doubled the daily quota of 5kg Free Trade LPG cylinders for migrant workers in every state. The idea? Make sure they have steady access to fuel while everything else feels so shaky.

Mumbai restaurants hike LPG prices 

Restaurants all over Mumbai are feeling the heat from soaring costs, thanks to an ongoing LPG shortage that’s throwing their fuel supply into chaos. What started out as a short-term headache is now impossible to ignore, just check any menu.

Everyone, from street food stalls to old-school bakeries, is bumping up prices or getting ready to do it soon.

When did the LPG crisis start? 

So, how did everything get so tangled? This all started back on March 5, when the government told oil companies to put homeowners first when it came to LPG. That set off panic buying.

Suddenly, hoarding and black market deals left restaurants fighting for scraps. Bakeries, already forced away from wood-fired ovens because of court orders, couldn’t catch a break either. If you wanted an LPG cylinder in the black market? Get ready to pay Rs 4,000 or more.

At first, a lot of restaurants tried to take the hit themselves. They covered the extra costs, thinking it would blow over. But that cushion is gone, and now, the pinch is showing right on your bill.

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