India has invoked emergency powers and directed refiners to maximise production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to prevent a shortage of the cooking fuel after supply disruptions caused by the Middle East crisis, a government order showed. The world's second-biggest importer of LPG last year consumed 33.15 million metric tons of cooking gas, which is a mixture of propane and butane. All oil refiners are asked to "maximise and ensure that propane and butane available with them are utilized for production of LPG", the order issued late on Thursday showed. The government has asked producers to make LPG, propane and butane available to state refiners - Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp and Bharat Petroleum Corp for distribution to households. The government also ordered refiners not to divert propane and butane for petrochemical production.
