India's Gas Demand Returns to Pre-Disruption Levels Amid Rising Global Competition

India's gas consumption has largely recovered to pre-disruption levels after increasing 7% month-on-month and 2% year-on-year to 197 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) in June, according to a report by Equirus. The growth was driven entirely by imported gas, with LNG consumption rising 13% month-on-month and 10% year-on-year to 110 mmscmd. Domestic gas supply remained flat at 87 mmscmd, taking India's import dependence to 56%.

The report notes that the increase in demand was broad-based, led by city gas distribution (CGD), miscellaneous users, and refineries. CGD consumption increased 2.3 mmscmd month-on-month to 58 mmscmd, while miscellaneous demand rose 3.9 mmscmd to 41 mmscmd. Refinery consumption also improved, supported by a 25% rise in imports.

Equirus expects July demand to remain strong but slightly softer than June due to lower power consumption. However, the report cautions that stronger Chinese LNG buying is increasing competition for flexible cargoes, pushing Asian spot LNG prices above $19 per million British thermal units.