Ministry
Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is the Government of India's apex department for oil and gas. It governs exploration, refining, pricing, distribution and — critically for an economy that imports the overwhelming share of its crude — the sourcing and security of oil supply. Through its planning arm and the state oil companies it oversees, it is the institution that administers where India buys its oil and on what terms. Its administration of the country's oil and gas traces to the dedicated petroleum bodies the Government of India stood up from the mid-1950s.
Updated
- Headquarters
- Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi
- Import dependence
- ~88% of crude oil imported (PPAC data, April 2024–February 2025)
- Strategic reserve
- 5.33 MMT at 3 sites (~9.5 days of crude cover, per PIB)
- Budget allocation
- ₹30,443 crore (2026-27, per PRS/Union Budget documents)
Role
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas administers the upstream-to-downstream chain of India’s oil and gas: exploration licensing (through the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons), demand and price analysis (through the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell), and the state companies — ONGC, Oil India, Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and GAIL — that refine, market and distribute fuel across the country. Because India produces only a small fraction of the crude it burns, the ministry’s most consequential function is external: securing supply, diversifying sources and managing the price the economy pays for oil.
That external function makes the ministry a seat of power well beyond fuel retailing. Its choices on where India buys crude — Gulf, Russia, the United States, West Africa — sit at the intersection of energy policy, fiscal policy (fuel is a large share of the import bill and of consumer inflation) and foreign policy. It works alongside the Ministry of External Affairs on energy diplomacy and the Ministry of Finance on the subsidy and import-bill arithmetic, and its sourcing decisions are a core test of India’s strategic autonomy.
Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.
Timeline since 1947
- reference
Dedicated petroleum administration set up
The Government of India established the Oil and Natural Gas Directorate as a subordinate office, the origin of the dedicated oil-and-gas administration the ministry descends from.
- reference
Oil and Natural Gas Commission raised
The directorate was raised to commission status, giving the state the commanding role in exploration and laying the public-sector foundation the ministry would administer.
- reference
Downstream oil brought into state hands
The nationalisation era placed refining and marketing under state companies that the ministry oversees.
- reference
Strategic petroleum reserve programme approved
Government approval led to Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL) and underground crude storage on both coasts.
- gdelt
Russian crude enters India's import mix at scale
After the invasion of Ukraine and Western sanctions, discounted Russian barrels grew from almost nothing to about a third of India's crude imports.
- gdelt
US sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil take effect
The 21 November 2025 wind-down deadline for the sanctions hit the two suppliers behind the bulk of India's Russian crude, pushing refiners toward non-sanctioned channels.
- gdelt
US-India trade framework drops the Russian-oil tariff
Washington removed the additional 25% tariff it had tied to India's Russian-oil purchases; the White House framed it as recognition of a commitment to stop buying Russian oil, which India did not publicly confirm.
- gdelt
Russian crude imports hit a record as the US waiver lapses
Ship-tracking data showed India's Russian crude at record volumes in June 2026, with a US sanctions waiver lapsing amid Strait-of-Hormuz supply disruption.
Frequently asked
- What is Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas?
- The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is the Government of India's apex department for oil and gas. It governs exploration, refining, pricing, distribution and — critically for an economy that imports the overwhelming share of its crude — the sourcing and security of oil supply. Through its planning arm and the state oil companies it oversees, it is the institution that administers where India buys its oil and on what terms. Its administration of the country's oil and gas traces to the dedicated petroleum bodies the Government of India stood up from the mid-1950s.
- When was Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas established?
- Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas was established 1955.
- What does Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas do?
- Its remit covers Exploration and production of oil and natural gas, Refining, distribution, marketing and pricing of petroleum products, Import, export and supply security of crude oil and LNG, Strategic petroleum reserves and demand planning, Oversight of the state oil and gas public-sector undertakings.
- What is the latest on Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas?
- As of 2026-07-06: Russian crude imports hit a record as the US waiver lapses. Ship-tracking data showed India's Russian crude at record volumes in June 2026, with a US sanctions waiver lapsing amid Strait-of-Hormuz supply disruption.