Adani Total Gas, Gujarat Gas, and others gain up to 12%: Why are natural gas stocks rising despite stock market crash?

The rally in gas stocks follows a sharp spike in crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in West Asia. Analysts say higher oil prices have improved the relative attractiveness of natural gas, raising expectations of increased demand from industrial and transport segments.

At the same time, concerns over potential supply disruptions have supported gas prices, lifting sentiment for city gas distribution companies. The sector is thus emerging as a relative outperformer amid the ongoing energy market turmoil.

Top five natural gas stock gainers today

The trading volumes jumped to more than 28 million due to high investor interest in the sectoral stocks.

As of the early market hours, Adani Total Gas stock was trading 8.86% higher at ₹561, compared to the previous market close levels, according to NSE data. The shares of the company have lost 5.48% in the last five sessions on the Indian market.

Gujarat Gas shares have lost 6.87% in the last five sessions on the Indian stock market.

Gujarat State Petronet’s trading volumes surged to more than 1.7 million as of the early trading hours, and the company's shares have lost 7.66% over the last five market sessions on the Indian stock market.

Mahanagar Gas stock was trading 0.86% higher at ₹1,009 as of 10:39 a.m. on March 19, compared to the previous market close. The shares of the natural gas company have lost 4.11% over the last five market sessions.

As of 10:44 a.m., ONGC stock is trading 2.15% higher at ₹270.70, compared to the previous market session. Shares of the oil and natural gas firm have gained 0.09% in the last five trading sessions on the Indian stock market.

How benchmark indices were performing

The NIFTY50 index was trading 2.08% lower at 23,282.65 points on Thursday, compared to 23,777.80 points at the previous market close.

The BSE SENSEX index also crashed more than 2,000 points at the opening bell, now trading 2.13%, or 1,634.17 points, lower at 75,069.96, compared to the previous market close level of 76,704.13 points at the previous market close, as per the exchange data.

US-Iran conflict update

The latest developments around the conflict between the United States and Iran suggest that the largest oil field, which supplies natural gas to Iran, the South Pars natural gas field, was attacked by US and Israeli drones. This development, in turn, fuelled the crude oil prices.

The drone attacks reportedly caused significant damage to Iran’s energy facilities in the area, which were then taken offline to control and prevent the spread of fire, Iranian media reports suggest. After the attacks, Iran retaliated by attacking Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar with missile strikes, further escalating the West Asia crisis on Thursday.