The question of India’s Energy Security constitutes the most important part of India’s economic progress. Analyze India’s energy policy cooperation with West Asian countries.

India imports about 85 per cent of its crude oil and roughly half its natural gas, making energy security the hard core of its economic strategy. West Asia has traditionally supplied over half of India's crude — Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the UAE rank among its top suppliers — and Qatar dominates its LNG basket.

Dimensions of Energy Policy Cooperation

• Long-term supply security: QatarEnergy's LNG contract with Petronet was renewed in 2024 for 20 years (7.5 MMTPA), anchoring gas supplies at scale.
• Strategic reserves: ADNOC stores crude in India's strategic petroleum reserves at Mangaluru and Padur — the only foreign firm to do so — blending commercial stockpiling with emergency cover.
• Cross-investments: OVL holds a 10 per cent stake in Abu Dhabi's Lower Zakum offshore concession, while Saudi Aramco and ADNOC have committed interest in Indian mega-refinery and petrochemical projects, giving suppliers a stake in Indian demand.
• New architecture: the India-UAE CEPA, rupee-dirham settlement of oil trades, I2U2 and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (2023) add trade, logistics and clean-energy layers; green hydrogen cooperation and Gulf membership of the International Solar Alliance extend ties beyond hydrocarbons.

Challenges

• Chokepoint risk at Hormuz and Bab-el-Mandeb (Red Sea attacks), OPEC+ output cuts and the Asian premium keep supplies price-volatile.
• US sanctions froze Iran cooperation (Farzad-B gas field), and regional conflicts periodically threaten the 9-million-strong diaspora that underwrites remittances.
• Post-2022 discounted Russian crude reduced West Asia's share, but dependence for LNG and swing supplies endures.

India has moved from a transactional buyer to an embedded partner — through reserves, refineries and green corridors. Deepening two-way investment, drawing Gulf sovereign funds into India's energy transition, and operationalising IMEC would convert energy dependence into durable interdependence.