New Delhi: Amid the cargo movement through the Strait of Hormuz remaining a challenge because of the US-Israel and Iran war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday assured the nation that the country has adequate availability of petroleum, fertilisers and coal to weather trade and energy disruptions, Reuters reported.
Addressing the Parliament, PM Modi said India has sufficient petroleum availability, strategic reserves are above 5.3 million metric tons. The prime minister said work is underway to create reserves of another 6.5 million metric tons.
“The inherent strength of India’s economic fundamentals has … provided significant support to the nation during this period,” PM Modi was quoted by the news agency.
India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves
Meanwhile, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi informed the Rajya Sabha that India’s strategic oil reserves are currently sitting at only two-thirds capacity. Assuring the nation of having sufficient fuel, he said that strategic reserves of the country are designed to provide cover for about 9.5 days of supplies during disruptions or price shocks.
“Quantity of the crude available in the caverns varies depending on market conditions,” Gopi said in a written reply in the Upper House.
“Currently, ISPRL has around 3.372 million tonnes of crude stock available, which is around 64 per cent of the total storage capacity.”
India’s stockpile of fuel has been in focus since the breakout of Us-Iran war which disrupted the supply of crude oil, natural gas and LPG from the Gulf countries to India. The Middle East conflict has disrupted the Strait of Hormuz route, with Iran threatening to blow ‘enemy’ vessels.
Notably, India imported around 85-95 per cent of LPG and 30 per cent of the through this strategic waterway.
“The current total national capacity for storage of crude oil and petroleum products is 74 days, which includes the capacity of storage facilities of the oil marketing companies (OMCs),” he said, adding that “The actual reserve is a dynamic number depending on the stocks and actual consumption, both of which are not static.”
With Reuters and PTI inputs