India’s natural gas production declined by 2.1% in December 2024, with gross production recorded at 3,066 MMSCM, according to the latest data from the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas. The report showed that the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports rose by 19.2% during the same period, reaching 3,047 MMSCM.

The total availability of natural gas for sale in December stood at 5,612 MMSCM, reflecting a 10.8% increase over the corresponding month in 2023. The report stated that net domestic production available for sale, after adjusting for internal consumption and technical flaring, was 83.7% of the gross production during the month.

The production of natural gas by state-run ONGC was 1,201 MMSCM, which was lower than the previous year by 5%. Oil India Ltd (OIL) recorded a production of 270 MMSCM, reflecting an increase of 2.7% over December 2023. Private and joint venture companies produced 1,594 MMSCM, registering a marginal increase of 0.7%.

Natural gas consumption for December 2024 was 5,883 MMSCM, with the fertilizer sector being the largest consumer, using 1,766 MMSCM, accounting for 30% of total consumption. The City Gas Distribution (CGD) sector consumed 1,310 MMSCM, accounting for 22% of the total. The power sector reported a consumption of 571 MMSCM, with a share of 10%. Refineries consumed 413 MMSCM, accounting for 7% of the total, while the petrochemical sector used 319 MMSCM, which was 5% of total consumption. Other sectors, including industrial usage, accounted for 1,505 MMSCM, making up 26% of the total.

The data showed that consumption in the fertilizer sector declined by 5% compared to December 2023, while the power sector recorded a decline of 10%. The City Gas Distribution sector recorded an increase of 11% in consumption. Petrochemical consumption saw an increase of 32%, while refinery consumption declined by 12.2%.

State-wise, Gujarat recorded the highest natural gas consumption at 46.12 MMSCMD, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 32.68 MMSCMD and Maharashtra at 25.88 MMSCMD. Rajasthan recorded a consumption of 10.80 MMSCMD, Haryana reported 9.41 MMSCMD, and Delhi stood at 5.70 MMSCMD. Other states with significant consumption included Assam at 7.47 MMSCMD, Tamil Nadu at 7.56 MMSCMD, and Tripura at 3.38 MMSCMD.

LNG imports contributed significantly to the total natural gas availability, with the share of imported re-gasified LNG (R-LNG) in total consumption standing at 56%, while domestic gas contributed 44%. The cumulative consumption of natural gas in the fiscal year 2023-24 up to December stood at 54,322 MMSCM, reflecting a 7% increase compared to the previous year.

The report showed that the share of the fertilizer sector in total gas consumption for April-December 2024 was 28.5%, while the CGD sector accounted for 20.7%. The power sector’s share stood at 13.2%, refineries at 8.3%, and petrochemicals at 4.5%. The share of other sectors, including industrial and miscellaneous use, stood at 24.8%.