Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary, Shipping and Waterways Ministry, and Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry, (right) addressing the media at Inter Ministerial Briefing on Recent Development in West Asia at National Media Centre, in New Delhi on March 19, 2026.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Seeking to keep track of domestic fuel and energy stocks, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) in a past-midnight notification Thursday (March 19, 2026) designated the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) as the nodal agency to “collect, compile and analyse” the necessary information.
Iran-Israel updates on March 19, 2026
The gazette notification seeks that producers and refiners, among others, furnish to the PPAC information relating to “production, imports, exports, stocks, storage, allocation, transportation, consumption, supply and utilisation of petroleum products or natural gas, aggregated or disaggregated by geography, time or consumers as they may be specified.”
Speaking to reporters later Thursday (March 19, 2026) afternoon at the daily inter-ministerial briefing, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) elaborated the objective was to give the already-existing mandate of the PPAC “legal strength”. “Now everybody has to give [the necessary] information, and with legal force, it would be better implementable,” she said.
More than 5,600 consumers have transitioned to PNG in the last 3 days
The senior government official informed more than 5,600 consumers have transitioned to piped natural gas (PNG) in the last three days. Essential to note, the government has been seeking to incentivise transition of LPG consumers to PNG to de-escalate the pressure on the forme as it finds itself mired in supply uncertainties amidst the escalating tensions in West Asia.
Further, Ms. Sharma informed in the past two weeks, about 1.25 lakh new connections have been provided in the last two weeks. This is inclusive of domestic, commercial and industrial connections.
Tanker carrying Russian oil expected to reach Mangalore March 21
Rajesh Kumar Sinha, Special Secretary at the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways confirmed crude oil tanker Aqua Titan, which is carrying Russian crude oil, is expected to arrive at the New Mangalore Port on March 21. “The tanker named Aqua Titan was chartered by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), and it is expected to arrive at the New Mangalore Port March 21,” he stated.
Published – March 19, 2026 10:27 pm IST
