ONGC chief urges India to cut energy reliance on Middle East, boost domestic output

India must rethink its energy security strategy and reduce its dependence on traditional supply assumptions, especially its proximity to the Middle East, amid rising geopolitical uncertainties, ONGC Chairman and CEO Arun Kumar Singh said on Friday. 

Speaking at an energy security conclave organised by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board, the ONGC chief warned that the recent West Asia conflict, which triggered one of the biggest energy shocks in decades, has exposed vulnerabilities in India’s energy supply chain.

“India currently depends on the Middle East for nearly half of its crude oil imports, around 30 per cent of its natural gas, and 85–90 per cent of its LPG needs,” he stated.

However, Singh cautioned against assuming easy access to these resources due to geographical proximity.

“Thinking that the Middle East is nearest to us and therefore all their resources can be accessed easily, we should take it with a pinch of salt,” he said.

The crisis was exacerbated by a six-week disruption of a key shipping route used by Gulf nations to export crude oil, natural gas and LPG, leading to supply constraints across several importing countries, including India.

The disruption forced authorities to prioritise gas allocation to critical sectors.

Highlighting the risks of an increasingly fragmented global order, Singh said a “paradigm shift” is underway.

“If the world gets more and more de-globalised, we will have more and more problems,” he noted, adding that India’s high import dependence makes it particularly vulnerable in such a scenario.

He stressed that boosting domestic production has become an “existential necessity” and called for aggressive exploration efforts.

“We should chase wherever oil or gas is in our country at any cost, because in a crisis nobody will help,” he said, while noting that deepwater exploration remains a challenge.

Singh also underscored the urgent need to expand strategic storage capacities to cushion against supply and price shocks.

“We must now address this storage whatever it takes,” he said. Pointing to growing volatility in global energy markets, he said refining economics have become increasingly unpredictable, with unusual instances where product margins exceeded crude costs.