India-UAE Energy Pacts to Put LPG Supply and Strategic Oil Reserves at Centre of Modi Visit

India and the United Arab Emirates are expected to conclude two important energy cooperation agreements during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Abu Dhabi on May 15, with liquefied petroleum gas supplies and strategic petroleum reserves likely to form the core of the discussions. The visit comes at a time when energy security has become one of India’s most urgent strategic priorities because of continuing volatility in West Asia and pressure on global oil and gas supply chains.

Prime Minister Modi will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan during the first leg of his five-nation tour covering the UAE, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy from May 15 to 20. The Ministry of External Affairs has said the two leaders will exchange views on bilateral issues, especially energy cooperation, along with regional and international developments. The UAE remains one of India’s most important Gulf partners, with strong ties in trade, investment, energy and the Indian diaspora.

The proposed energy agreements are significant because they directly address two critical areas of India’s energy security architecture. The first is LPG, which is central to household cooking fuel supply across India. The second is strategic petroleum reserves, which act as an emergency buffer against global oil supply shocks. Reports indicate that Indian Oil Corporation and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company are expected to work on LPG supply cooperation, while Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited and ADNOC are expected to deepen cooperation on crude oil storage.

The UAE already plays a major role in India’s energy basket. It was India’s fourth-largest source of crude oil last year, meeting nearly 11 percent of India’s requirement. It is also India’s largest supplier of LPG, accounting for nearly 40 percent of India’s LPG needs, and one of India’s key LNG partners. Indian companies have long-term supply contracts with ADNOC for 4.5 million metric tonnes per annum of LNG, making India one of the biggest buyers of UAE LNG.

The strategic petroleum reserve component has a deeper history. In 2018, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited and ADNOC signed an agreement under which the UAE could store more than five million barrels of crude oil at India’s Mangaluru storage facility. A fresh agreement now would build on that earlier framework and could help India strengthen its emergency storage system at a time when maritime chokepoints and West Asian tensions remain major risk factors for import-dependent economies.

The timing of the visit is important. India imports a large share of its crude oil and gas requirements, making stable Gulf partnerships essential for domestic fuel security, inflation management and industrial continuity. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said India currently has around 60 days of crude and LNG, and 45 days of LPG, while maintaining that there is no immediate problem on the supply side. Even so, the government is clearly moving to reinforce long-term supply resilience rather than merely depend on short-term stock availability.

Beyond energy, the visit is also expected to advance the broader India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The UAE is India’s third-largest trade partner and seventh-largest cumulative source of investment over the past 25 years. The Gulf nation also hosts more than 4.5 million Indians, making diaspora welfare another important part of the bilateral agenda.

The energy pacts, if concluded, will therefore be more than routine commercial arrangements. They will mark a strategic attempt to lock in dependable fuel flows, deepen India’s storage security, strengthen trust with a key Gulf supplier and reduce the country’s exposure to future oil-market disruptions. In a world where energy supply is increasingly shaped by geopolitics, the India-UAE partnership is moving from buyer-seller relations toward a more integrated energy security framework.