The Union government has invoked the Essential Commodities Act (1955) to regulate production, supply and distribution of natural gas following global supply chain disruptions due to the US-Israel war against Iran. Issuing the Natural Gas Supply Regulation Order (2026) under the Act on March 10, the Union government said that priority will be extended across four sectors in a tiered manner.
Priority sector 1 is domestic piped natural gas (PNG), Compressed natural gas (CNG) used by vehicles, LPG production, pipeline compressor fuel and other essential pipeline operations.
Priority sector 2 is for fertiliser plants, which are to receive 70% of their average gas consumption in the last six months. Plants have been directed to submit a compliance report to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell that the gas has been used for fertiliser production.
Priority sector 3 is for industrial and commercial consumers, including tea manufacturers, who are to be supplied with 80% of their gas consumption in the past six months.
Priority sector 4 includes all City Gas Distribution who are to provide the industrial and commercial consumers they supply with 80% of their gas consumption in the past six months.
The Union government has added that these four sectors would be prioritised through either full or partial curtailment of supply to power plants and to petrochemical facilities, including ONGC Petro additions Limited (OPaL), GAIL Pata Petrochemical Complex, Reliance O2C and other High-Pressure High-Temperature (HPHT) gas consumers.
Further, oil refining companies have been directed to absorb the impact of disruptions in LNG supply by reducing gas allocation to approximately 65% of the past six months’ consumption.
Global oil and gas supply has been hit after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz. On March 10, hotel associations in both Bengaluru and Chennai warned of city-wide shutdowns in the coming days due to shortages.