India reduces gas supply to industries after Qatar outage, sources say

NEW DELHI, March 3 (Reuters) — Indian companies reduced natural gas supplies to industries on Tuesday in anticipation of tighter supplies from the Middle East after leading producer Qatar halted production, four industry sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The sources declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Qatar stopped producing liquefied natural gas on Monday as Iran continued to strike Gulf states in retaliation for Israeli and US attacks on it. The attacks also halted oil and gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, increasing global energy prices and shipping costs.

India, the world’s fourth largest LNG buyer, relies heavily on the Middle East for its imports.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Additional reporting by Emily Chow in Singapore; Editing by Florence Tan and Kate Mayberry)