LNG prices rise 6%, raising gas affordability concerns in India

Global spot liquefied natural gas prices rose 6% week-on-week to an average of $32 per million British thermal units, according to Jefferies, raising concerns about the affordability of imported gas in India as winter approaches.

The price movement places a higher cost on gas buyers at a time when European storage levels are below those recorded in the comparable period last year. The Times of India reported that European Union gas storage was at 75%, against 83% during the same period last year. That comparison offers a measure of the storage shortfall cited alongside the LNG price rise.

Firstpost’s headline also connected winter LNG price increases and tighter global supplies with India’s energy affordability, while ANI’s headline said prices may remain elevated through winter. Those headlines support the broad affordability concern, but do not supply further figures or details about the outlook. Jefferies also assessed costs facing oil marketing companies.

It said their procurement costs were similar to an Indian crude basket price of $118 per barrel and estimated current petrol and diesel losses at Rs25 and Rs37 per litre, respectively, using 15-day average pricing. These are the report’s estimates, not independently established accounting results in the coverage.

The Times of India additionally described rising crude transportation costs and narrowing discounts on Russian oil as elements of wider energy-market cost pressure. Times Now reported that the physical crude premium rose 8% week-on-week to $9 per barrel last week, following renewed attacks in the region.

The outlet did not identify the attacks or name an actor responsible, so the stated sequence does not establish who carried them out or a verified causal link to the premium increase. Jefferies said normalisation of supply chains was likely to take time, which it linked to elevated margins over FY27.

It also said average margins for polyethylene, polypropylene and PET were 55% above their February-end level, aiding Reliance’s oil-to-chemicals profitability.

The coverage thus records both affordability pressure for imported gas in India and stronger reported margins in some petrochemical segments; it does not quantify how LNG prices affect household bills or industrial consumption. The reporting’s emphasis varies.

Times Now foregrounded the crude premium and Jefferies’ estimates of oil marketing company losses and petrochemical margins; The Times of India placed the LNG increase alongside European storage figures and broader transport and oil-discount costs.

Firstpost and ANI headlines reinforce the winter affordability concern, with ANI adding Jefferies’ expectation that prices may stay elevated through winter. The reports therefore point to a difficult cost outlook, while the magnitude of any direct pass-through to Indian consumers remains unspecified.