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India has expanded the number of countries from which it sources liquefied natural gas (LNG) from six to 15 as part of efforts to reduce the risk of supply disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions and maritime transit challenges, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
The country has also widened its crude oil sourcing portfolio from 27 countries to 41, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said in a written reply to an unstarred question on the impact of geopolitical disruptions and transit risks on crude oil and gas supplies. "This diversification has reduced dependence on any particular country, region or transit route and enhanced India's ability to manage supply disruptions and market volatility," Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi said in the reply. The expansion in LNG sourcing is the key new disclosure in the reply. The increase in crude oil sourcing to 41 countries had been disclosed earlier by the government amid disruptions to energy shipments through West Asia. The ministry said it continuously monitors threats that could disrupt energy supplies and assesses global supply conditions in consultation with public-sector oil and gas companies and other stakeholders. "Government, in consultation with Public Sector Oil and Gas Companies and other stakeholders, continuously assesses global supply conditions and acts appropriately to ensure uninterrupted availability of crude oil, LNG and petroleum products," the reply said. The government also outlined plans to increase India's strategic petroleum storage capacity. Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited has established three strategic petroleum reserve facilities with a combined capacity of 5.33 million metric tonnes of crude oil in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. In addition, the government has approved two commercial-cum-strategic petroleum reserve facilities with a combined storage capacity of 6.5 million metric tonnes in Odisha and Karnataka. However, the 6.5-million-tonne capacity is not currently available for use. The projects at Chandikhol in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka were approved in July 2021. The latest reply did not provide their construction progress, completion schedules or expected commissioning dates. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is separately developing a strategic petroleum reserve facility with a capacity of 1.75 million metric tonnes in Karnataka. In an earlier Rajya Sabha reply on August 3, the government had said that half of this capacity would be reserved for strategic storage, while the remaining half would be available to ONGC for commercial operations. (ANI)
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