India’s Top Oil and Gas Stocks for 2026

India is now the world’s fourth largest economy, and is poised to become the 3rd largest in the next five years. Due to higher economic activity in a country of nearly 1.5 billion people, oil demand is projected to grow at a rate of around 3% CAGR over the next five years (2025-2030), from approximately 2% CAGR in the last five years (2020-2025).

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The demand for crude oil is expected to reach ~5.7 mbpd (thousand barrels per day) by 2025 and ~6.6 mbpd by 2030.

Similarly, the demand for Natural Gas (NG) is expected to grow at around an 8% CAGR over the next five years (2025-2030) from a 3% CAGR in the last five years (2020-2025), pre-COVID peak.

The demand for NG is expected to reach around 103 bcm from 70 bcm in 2025. The NG consumption is expected to grow much more than oil due to an expected higher mix (~15%) in India’s energy basket by 2030.

The Indian government is set to expand pipeline networks, boosting refining capacity to almost 300 bcm by 2028 to promote relatively cleaner fuels instead of oil. This will act as a bridge between India’s potential transitions from fossil to green fuel (energy/EV).

The oil & gas sector includes upstream (exploration & production-E&P), midstream (transportation) and downstream (refining/byproducts/marketing) players.

Although India is set to be an EV-savvy economy by 2075, due to potential inadequate infrastructure/ecosystem, the country may need to be dependent on both oil & NG till at least 2100!

Thus, India’s oil & gas sector companies are expected to continue their resilient performance, while also maintaining their gradual transition to the green world of EVs.

An overview of leading oil & gas stocks in India

1) Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)

RIL, India’s largest private company, is also the 2nd largest oil & gas company in India. It has the world’s largest single-location oil refining complex (~1.4 mbpd) at Jamnagar, Gujarat.

RIL’s oil –oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business benefits from integrated operations, highly complex refining and solid petchem margins.

RIL is also India’s largest merchandise exporter; almost 50% of its O2C revenue comes from exports, led by the EU (mainly gasoline) and also some ASEAN countries (mainly petchem byproducts).

RIL is also steadily expanding its domestic fuel supply networks in partnership with BP.

RIL is an integrated oil & gas (~1%) E&P Company. And it is also India’s second largest Deepwater Operator in partnership with BP (33.3% stake).

RIL is steadily increasing its NG production from ~2% of India’s total in Q3FY21 to almost 30% in FY: 23-24 amid accelerated ramp-up of its KG-D6 block.

The block is located off the East Coast in the Bay of Bengal. It’s an ultra-Deepwater (>2000 M water depths) facility and is a global benchmark for cost efficiency and production/execution speed.

2) Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)

ONGC, a ‘Maharatna’ (leading) PSU enterprise, is India’s leading E&P and upstream player, contributing over 70% of domestic crude oil and ~84% of NG production.

Recent NG discoveries in the Mumbai Offshore region and efforts to arrest the NG production decline point to its operational focus.

The Indian government is also extending strategic support, including E&P incentives.

ONGC remains aggressive in E&P to replenish reserves and drilled a record 578 wells in FY25 overall, the highest in 35 years.

Its global operation through ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), the overseas arm, holds interests in 32–35 assets across 15–19 countries.

It contributes significantly to India's imports. OVL accounts for ~30% of India's oil and ~24% of oil & gas production supplementation.

3) Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL)

BPCL is a leading PSU oil marketing and refining company, primarily engaged in the refining of crude oil and the marketing of petroleum products.

As India's second-largest oil marketing company (OMC), BPCL plays a vital role in meeting the country’s fuel demand through its integrated operations spanning refining, marketing, and emerging upstream activities.

With robust infrastructure and an extensive retail presence, BPCL maintains a significant market share in key segments amid growing energy needs and the transition towards cleaner fuels.

BPCL accounts for ~14% of India's total refining capacity. In FY25, BPCL achieved a high capacity utilisation of over 115%.

BPCL’s Gross Refining Margins (GRM) for FY25 averaged around $6.82–7.77 per barrel, reflecting operational efficiency despite global volatility.

BPCL is expanding its infrastructure, including the upcoming Barmer refinery.

BPCL continues to be a resilient diversified OMC in 2026 with high utilisation, expanding retail outlets and strategic upstream ventures.

The company is well poised for sustained growth, supported by India’s rising oil demand and strategic focus on energy security.

Looking ahead, lower global crude oil prices and steady GRM may boost the stock in the coming days.

4) Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)

IOCL is another major ‘Maharatna’ PSU Undertaking oil refiner, marketer and distributor; it’s the largest OMC in India and one of the backbone of the country’s petroleum products supply chain.

IOCL is the leader in India’s oil refining, downstream petchem byproducts, LPG distribution and aviation fuel (ATF).

Apart from benefiting from India’s robust fuel demand, IOCL is also preparing itself for the inevitable transition to the world of EV/greener energy.

IOCL has 11 refineries across India, with a combined capacity of 80.80 MMTPA, almost 31% of India’s total refining capacity.

IOCL has a high refinery utilisation of almost 100-105%, showing a robust domestic demand and operational efficiency.

Almost 95% of its revenue comes from petchem products-led by high speed diesel (HSD~46%); Motor Spirit (Petrol~22%); LPG (~12%), and ATF (~5%).

It has an extensive petrol/diesel pumps network of almost 37500 (~42% market share in retail outlets); ~51% of LPG distributorships, over 2100 CNG stations and almost 130 ATF outlets, along with more than 61000 customer touch points across the country.

IOCL’s extensive domestic distribution network remains a formidable competitive moat.

It has almost 20000 KM pipeline network-one of the largest in the world for transportation of crude oil, petroleum products and gas.

IOCL is also expanding its capacity with a huge CAPEX of ~₹2.5 lakh crore across more than 120 projects led by oil refinery expansions in Barauni, Panipat and Gujarat, scheduled to be completed by FY26.

It’s also setting up a fresh refinery complex and extending pipeline networks VY 10% to 22000 KM.

These strategic investments would further consolidate IOCL’s leadership in refining and marketing, along with an improvement in integration and overall operating revenue and margin over the medium to long term.

5) GAIL (India) Limited

GAIL, another PSU major, is India's largest natural gas (NG) processing and city gas Distribution Company, primarily involved in NG transmission and marketing through a vast pipeline network.

GAIL is ideally positioned for India’s emerging gas economy and set to capitalise on potentially higher demand from power, transport, fertilisers and industrials.

GAIL is India’s largest integrated gas company, with an extensive LNG pipeline network spanning over 16243 KM and 2040 KM of LPG pipelines.

GAIL dominates India’s gas transmissions (~65% market share) and marketing (~48% market share-NG).

GAIL is also active in petchems, liquid hydrocarbon, City Gas Distribution (CGD) and emerging sectors like RE and Green Hydrogen.

GAIL’s core operation is gas marketing (~82% of revenue), followed by transmission services (~7%), petchems (~6%) and LPG/liquid hydrocarbons (~3%).

GAIL remains a strategic PSU (government-backed) and a cornerstone of India’s NG ecosystem.

It offers defensive play through its government-regulated monopolistic transmission, along with growth potential from emerging gas & CGD expansion and diversification into petrochemicals and clean energy.

With sovereign backing, expanding infrastructure, and strategic investments, GAIL is well-placed to deliver steady returns while contributing to India’s energy transition.

Recent robust performance of GAIL shows growth in transmission and marketing volumes, offsetting softer segments.

Conclusions

India’s oil & gas sector remains robust, supported by resilient economic growth and policy stability for green energy and the Russian oil issue.

The Government is not in the mood to change its domestic pricing policy due to U.S. policies, including the 25% additional tariffs for trading in Russia’s ‘tainted’ oil.

Overall, we may expect a permanent ceasefire or peace for the Russia-Ukraine war.

And in that scenario, oil may correct further, which should be positive for the sector in 2026.