What Happened
- The ongoing West Asia war has created a severe disruption to global LNG (liquefied natural gas) supply chains, with analysts warning of a potential "doomsday gas crisis scenario."
- Israeli strikes hit Iran's South Pars gas field — the world's largest — while Iranian retaliatory strikes targeted Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial city, the single largest LNG export hub on the planet.
- Qatar's Ras Laffan plant temporarily closed following an Iranian drone attack, marking the first supply interruption in three decades of operation.
- If the disruption extends to three months, it would constitute the biggest LNG outage in the industry's half-century history.
- India faces acute exposure: more than 50-60% of India's LNG imports transit the Strait of Hormuz; approximately 1.7 million tonnes of India's oil, LNG, and LPG were stranded in the Strait as of mid-March 2026.
- An op-ed in The Hindu drew a parallel with a gas crisis from six decades ago to underscore how energy chokepoints create cascading geopolitical consequences.
Static Topic Bridges
The Strait of Hormuz: The World's Most Critical Energy Chokepoint
The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow waterway separating Iran from the Arabian Peninsula, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and ultimately the Arabian Sea. It is the world's most important maritime chokepoint for global energy trade.
- The strait is only 33 km wide at its narrowest point, yet approximately 20% of global oil trade and 20% of global LNG trade pass through it daily.
- In 2024, about 84% of the oil and 83% of the LNG shipped through the strait was bound for Asia.
- India's exposure: approximately 40-50% of crude oil imports and 55-60% of LNG imports transit the Strait of Hormuz; ~80-85% of LPG imports also pass through it.
- A closure or sustained disruption to the strait would simultaneously push up crude oil prices (since India imports ~88% of its crude) and LNG contract prices (many of which are Brent-indexed).
- Qatar's North Field — which supplies Ras Laffan — holds approximately 40% of the world's recoverable gas reserves and supplies about 80% of Qatar's LNG exports to Asia.
Connection to this news: India's energy vulnerability is structurally tied to the Strait of Hormuz. The current West Asia crisis has made this abstract strategic risk acutely real, with Indian ships and cargoes already stranded in the waterway.
India's LNG Import Dependence and Energy Security Strategy
India is one of the fastest-growing LNG importers in the world, driven by the government's push to increase the share of natural gas in the primary energy mix from about 6% currently to 15% by 2030. This ambition makes LNG supply security a central policy challenge.
- Qatar is India's largest LNG supplier, accounting for a substantial share of long-term contracted volumes; India-Qatar LNG contracts span 20-25 years.
- India's LNG regasification capacity has expanded significantly, with terminals at Dahej, Hazira, Kochi, Dhamra, Ennore, and Mundra.
- The Ministry of Petroleum has stated that approximately 70% of India's crude oil imports now come via routes outside the Strait of Hormuz — up from 55% earlier — reflecting deliberate supply chain diversification.
- India is pursuing energy diversification through increased purchases from the US (shale LNG), Russia (pipeline gas via Central Asia proposals), and Australia.
- The National Gas Grid (Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga) and City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks are designed to expand domestic gas usage — making import diversification more urgent.
Connection to this news: India's 15% gas target by 2030 depends on stable LNG imports. The current West Asia disruption tests whether India's diversification has gone far enough to buffer a Hormuz supply shock.
Historical Energy Crises and Geopolitical Lessons
The reference in the op-ed to a gas crisis from 60 years ago invokes the 1960s energy disruptions — a period when the geopolitics of the Middle East first demonstrated how conflicts in the region could paralyze global energy systems. The 1967 Arab-Israeli War led to the closure of the Suez Canal for eight years, fundamentally reshaping global shipping and energy economics. These precedents established the foundational logic for energy security as a pillar of national strategy.
- The 1967 Six-Day War closed the Suez Canal, forcing tankers to circumnavigate Africa (adding ~7,000 km to voyages), raising freight costs and oil prices globally.
- The 1973 Arab Oil Embargo (following the Yom Kippur War) triggered the first oil price shock, quadrupling global oil prices and catalyzing the creation of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 1974.
- These crises led oil-importing nations to build Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs) — India's own SPR at Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, and Padur stores approximately 5.33 million tonnes of crude.
- History shows that prolonged Middle East conflicts create durable shifts in energy trade geography: the post-1967 crisis accelerated the development of supertankers and trans-ocean energy infrastructure.
Connection to this news: The op-ed's historical framing argues that today's West Asia gas crisis is not unprecedented — energy chokepoints have repeatedly been weaponized in regional conflicts, and each crisis has led to structural changes in global energy architecture.
Key Facts & Data
- Ras Laffan, Qatar: world's largest LNG export facility; produces ~20% of global LNG supply.
- Qatar's North Field: holds ~40% of the world's recoverable gas reserves.
- India's LNG import dependence on Strait of Hormuz: approximately 55-60%.
- India's crude oil import dependence on Strait of Hormuz: approximately 40-50%.
- 1.7 million tonnes of India's oil, LNG, and LPG were stranded in the Strait of Hormuz as of March 18, 2026.
- If disruption lasts 3 months: largest LNG outage in the industry's 50-year history.
- India's gas share in primary energy mix: ~6% currently; target is 15% by 2030.
- India's SPR capacity: ~5.33 million tonnes at Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, and Padur.
- The 1973 Arab Oil Embargo quadrupled oil prices and led to the creation of IEA in 1974.
- 80% of Qatar's LNG exports go to Asia, predominantly through the Strait of Hormuz.