ONGC chief warns end of reliability on Gulf energy, says India must chase domestic oil ‘at any cost’

Speaking at an industry event in Delhi, Singh said that the “orderly” world under a single superpower is giving way to a “war of supremacy” among multiple competing powers. This geopolitical shift has effectively ended the era of easy energy globalisation, leaving import-dependent nations like India in a precarious position, he added.

“We should explore oil in our country at any cost. We must have exploration in a big way,” he said, making clear that energy self-sufficiency must now be treated as a national security imperative, not merely a commercial exercise.

On storage, he was equally forceful, calling India’s current capacity dangerously inadequate. “We must have big storage. We must now address our storage issue in any form,” he said. “We are a society that works hard when exam dates are announced,” he added.

India’s import reliant oil strategy in numbers

The absolute drop of marine traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has now gone on for a month and has triggered one of the worst energy supply crises in recent history. The maritime chokepoint, which handles a fifth of global oil and gas flows, is the jugular vein of India’s energy imports.

The country depends on imports to meet over 88% of its crude oil needs, 40% of which depend on the Strait of Hormuz. As for natural gas, India’s import dependency is about 50%, and 55-60% of India’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports come via the Strait.

In the case of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), India’s reliance on imports is 60%, and a whopping 90% of those come through the critical waterway.

Notably, the recent supply disruption forced reduction in natural gas and LPG supplies to certain industries in India as the government was forced to prioritise the requirements of households and priority sectors.

Singh noted that had nobody in the industry across the world had ever anticipated such a closure because if they had then nobody would have invested so much in countries like Qatar.

Infrastructure vulnerability: The CDU risk

A key highlight of Singh’s address was the changing nature of energy warfare. He warned that the physical vulnerability of energy infrastructure has been magnified by low-cost precision weapons, such as drones and missiles.

“Modern sabotage does not require destroying an entire refinery,” Singh observed. “Targeting just the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) can disable a refinery for years.” This vulnerability is further complicated by a shift in global diplomacy, where partner countries now prefer sharing dividends rather than physical oil in joint projects—leaving India isolated during supply crunches.

‘Every drop matters’

Describing domestic exploration as an “existential necessity,” the ONGC head urged a policy of chasing “each and every drop of oil, gas, and coal” within Indian borders, regardless of the cost.

In his address, Singh laid out a sweeping agenda for energy resilience, built around the principle of diversification at every level.

“We must diversify our energy sources. We must diversify our storage capacity. We should squeeze out every drop of oil, gas and coal,” he said, arguing that India’s over-dependence on imports, particularly from a volatile Middle East, leaves it dangerously exposed.

While India is intensifying efforts in deep-water areas, Singh emphasized that in a crisis, “nobody will help.” The goal is to move beyond the current stagnant domestic output to protect the nation’s energy sovereignty.

Strategic reserves: The Japan model

In his remarks the ONGC chief also noted that India’s current Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs) are significantly below global benchmarks. Singh advocated for a massive scale-up, citing Japan’s success in mitigating its lack of natural resources through high-capacity reserves.

In his remarks, Singh noted the example of Japan, a country that does not have substantial domestic fossil fuel based energy production sites of its own, but was able to mitigate a larger crisis by maintaining larger strategic reserves.

India’s strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs), which have a capacity to store 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil, and were holding 3.37 million tonnes of oil, or just about two-thirds of their total storage capacity, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) informed the Rajya Sabha on March 23.

India’s SPR Status Check:

Current Capacity: 5.33 million tonnes (Approx. 9.5 days of supply).

Total National Stock: 74 days (including commercial inventories).

IEA Recommendation: Minimum 90 days of net oil imports.

Notably, India is not a full member of the the International Energy Agency (IEA) but an associate member. This 90-day reserve holding can include strategic reserves as well as commercial inventories.

Concluding his address, Singh expressed hope that the government would soon announce “something big” regarding natural gas and oil storage, noting that addressing storage is a priority that must be pursued “whatever it takes.”