India, Europe feel fuel crunch as Gulf gas supplies disrupted amid war

Qatar has halted its liquefied natural gas production, as India and Europe bear the brunt of soaring prices.Published On 3 Mar 2026Indian companies have reduced natural gas supplies to industries in anticipation of tighter supply from the Middle East after ⁠top global producer Qatar halted liquefied natural gas (LNG) production, as European gas prices have jumped further by more than 30 percent since the launch of the Iran" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="38342" data-entity-type="event">US-Israeli war on Iran.Industry sources with knowledge of the matter told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday that top gas importer Petronet LNG Ltd had informed GAIL (India), the state-owned top gas marketing company, and other companies about lower supplies.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Why QatarEnergy’s LNG production halt could shake up global gas marketslist 2 of 4Asia’s stock markets plunge amid US-Israeli conflict with Iranlist 3 of 4What we know on day four of US-Israeli attacks on Iranlist 4 of 4How Russia could benefit from the US-Israeli war on Iranend of listCuts ranged from 10 percent to 30 percent, two ⁠sources told the agency. GAIL ⁠and Indian Oil Corp (IOC) informed customers of the gas supply cuts late on Monday, according to one of the sources.India is the world’s fourth-largest buyer of LNG and relies heavily on the Middle East for its imports. The South Asian nation is the top LNG client for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company ⁠and the second-largest buyer of Qatari LNG.The sources said the cuts have been set at minimum lifting quantities that would shield the suppliers from ⁠any penalties from the customers based on ⁠contractual terms.They added that, to make up for the LNG shortfall, companies, including IOC, GAIL and Petronet LNG, were planning to issue spot tenders, ‌although spot prices, freight and insurance costs have surged.QatarEnergy on Monday suspended LNG production following a drone attack, straining the global market. The measure followed Iranian drone attacks on a water tank at a power plant in Mesaieed Industrial City and an energy facility in Ras Laffan belonging to QatarEnergy, the world’s largest LNG producer.