Lok Sabha Question No. 54 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-20
Subject: Strategic Petroleum Reserves
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Sushil Kumar Singh

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.54 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 th July, 2023

Strategic Petroleum Reserves

54. SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH:

## पेोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंी

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

(a) the  current  status  of  the  strategic  petroleum  reserves  in  the  country  and  the measures  being  taken  to  increase  the  capacity  of  these  reserves  in  view  of increasing energy demand;

(b) the details of the ongoing initiatives for increasing the production of domestic natural gas;

(c) whether  these  initiatives  align  with  the  Government's  commitment  to  reduce carbon emissions and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the Government proposes to tackle the rising fuel prices and its impact on the common citizen, especially in the wake of global economic conditions and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the  current  status  of  exploration  and  production  contracts  under  the  Open Acreage  Licensing  Policy  (OALP)  and  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  and  Licensing Policy (HELP)?

## ANSWER

## पेोलयम और ाक ृ तक गैस मंालय म राय मंी ( ी रामेवर तेल )

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)

(a) Government of India through Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd. has already constructed 5.33 MMT capacity of underground storages for crude oil under Phase-I.

In  addition,  on  08.07.2021,  the  Government  of  India  has  given  its  approval  for development  of  Commercial  cum  Strategic  Petroleum  Reserves  under  Phase-II  at Chandikhol,  Odisha  (4  MMT)  and  Padur  II,  Karnataka  (2.5  MMT)  along  with dedicated Single Point Moorings   (SPMs) and associated pipelines under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

(b) Various long term and shortterm policy initiatives have been taken to increase production  of  domestic  oil  and  gas  which  inter-alia  include  Discovered  Small  Field Policy,  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  and  Licensing  Policy  (HELP),  Policy  framework  for Coal Bed Methane, etc.  Further, Government has also provided functional freedom to  National  Oil  Companies  and  facilitated  wider  private  sector  participation  by streamlining approval processes including electronic single window mechanism. (c) Natural  Gas  has  been  identified  as  a  bridge  fuel  towards  energy  transition which  is  a  move  away  from  fossil  fuels  to  cleaner  and  greener  energy  sources. Government  is simultaneously making concentrated efforts to increase adoption of biofuels, to decarbonise transport sector,to develop green hydrogen andadoption of Carbon Capture techniques. (d) Prices of  petrol  and  diesel  have  been  market-determined  with  effect  from 26.06.2010 and 19.10.2014 respectively. Since then, the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies  (OMCs)  take  appropriate  decision  on  pricing  of  petrol  and  diesel. Public Sector  Oil  Marketing  Companies  (OMCs)  have  not  increased  prices  of  petrol and diesel since 6 th April 2022. The Central Government has reduced Central Excise duty by a total of Rs. 13/ litre and  Rs.  16/  litre  on  petrol  and  diesel  respectively  in  two  tranches  in  November 2021 and May 2022. The measure was aimed to give a further fillip to the economy and to boost consumption and keep inflation low, thus helping the poor and middle classes. Many States/UTs also reduced the VAT on petrol and diesel subsequently. India  imports  more  than  60%  of  its  domestic  LPG  consumption.  Government continues to modulate the effective price of domestic LPG. Under the Direct Benefit Transfer for LPG (DBTL) scheme, subsidy as admissible, is deposited in the account of eligible beneficiaries. In addition, w.e.f.  21st May, 2022, Government has started a targeted subsidy of Rs. 200 per 14.2 Kg cylinder for Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) beneficiaries for upto 12 refills a year for years 2022-23 and 2023-24. The  impact  of  increase/decrease  in  prices  of  petrol  and  diesel  can  be  assessed through  their  impact  on  inflation  measured  by  Wholesale  Price  Index  (WPI).  The weightage of petrol, diesel and LPG in the WPI index is 1.60%, 3.10% and 0.64% respectively. (e) As  on  30th  June  2023,  seven  Open  Acreage  Licensing  Policy  (OALP)  bid rounds  have  been  concluded  with  the  award  of  134  exploration  blocks  covering 2,07,691 sq. km. area for Exploration and Production activities.

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