Bhubaneswar, March 20 -- Amid a worsening global energy situation driven by the conflict in West Asia, the Centre has invoked the Essential Commodities Act to strengthen oversight of the petroleum sector. The move makes it compulsory for all stakeholders involved in the production, refining, storage, transportation, and distribution of petroleum products and natural gas to share up-to-date data with the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).

Officials said the government has issued a notification under Section 3 of the Act, designating PPAC as the nodal agency for collecting, compiling, and analysing critical sector data. While PPAC already tracks oil and gas statistics, the new directive allows it to access more detailed, near rea...