As eateries across the country began tweaking menus in the wake of commercial LPG shortages, the government on Wednesday urged citizens to avoid panic booking and save fuel wherever possible.The Union Home Ministry asked the states to crack down on hoarders and black marketers. Instructions were passed at a meeting the Union Home Secretary had with chief secretaries today.This even as the International Energy Agency (IEA) said it would release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history in order to ease global energy flows amid the West Asia conflict. The organisation will release 400 million barrels of oil from members’ emergency reserves — a stock larger than 182.7 million barrels released in 2022 by the IEA’s 32 member countries after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Back home, several kitchens in the Capital and across metros, including Mumbai, stared at a lasting crunch and prepared a switch to cold food as the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas reiterated domestic households as top priority for LPG supplies. For the delivery of non-domestic LPG, hospitals and educational institutions will be preferred.As far as restaurants and hotels go, a three-member committee of chiefs of oil marketing companies (OMCs) set up yesterday will engage with states and industry bodies to finalise a plan and ensure the available LPG is distributed fairly, the government said as street food vendors and restaurant owners rushed to procure alternate means for cooking, including induction cooktops, microwaves, solar heating and even firewood. Reports from Uttarakhand suggested the government was gearing up to supply firewood to eatery businesses should the crunch continue. State Forest Minister Subodh Uniyal said the situation “resembled a crisis”.The challenge is stemming from India’s huge dependence on imports for natural gas supplies. India imports 60 per cent of its LPG requirement and 90 per cent of this is through the now-closed Strait of Hormuz.Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Oil Ministry, said procurement through alternative routes was underway to offset the challenge and two LNG cargoes were coming to India. India’s total consumption of the LPG per day is 189 MMSCMD (Million Metric Standard Cubic Metres per Day). Around 97.5 MMSCMD is produced domestically and the rest is imported. “Out of the import, 47.4 MMSCMD supply is currently affected due to force majeure conditions (which allow contract parties to renege on obligations under unforeseen circumstances),” Sharma said.She red-flagged panic booking, urging citizens to cooperate. She said domestic consumers should book a cylinder only after 25 days and if they did so, the delivery time would remain the standard 2.5 days.”Panic booking is being triggered due to misinformation,” Sharma said, reporting a 25 per cent rise in domestic LPG production since March 8 when the government first asked firms to maximise production. “The 25 per cent additional production is being directed to household consumers,” she said.An LPG cylinder was being sold for Rs 913 in Delhi today, with a subsidised Ujjwala cylinder available for Rs 613 — a rise of Rs 60 per cylinder even as the government said it was absorbing LPG costs, which were “lower for India than for its neighbourhood”.”Without the GoI intervention, the price rise would have been higher,” officials said, adding that the cost rise for subsidised cylinders was less than 80 paise a day.Meanwhile, the government also approved Rs 30,000 crore compensation for OMCs for under-recovery in the LPG.On crude oil, Sharma said the supply was secured. “Our consumption is 55 lakh barrels daily and through diversified sourcing from 40 nations, volumes secured today exceed what would normally have arrived through the Strait of Hormuz during this period,” officials said, adding that two cargoes were arriving in India and would strengthen the crude supply situation further.Due to diversification and procurement from 40 nations, 70 per cent of crude was now coming from routes outside of the Strait of Hormuz compared to 55 per cent earlier, the government said.