Lok Sabha Question No. 3449 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-20
Subject: Strengthening of Strategic Petroleum Reserves
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: Smt. Pratima Mondal

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3449 TO BE ANSWERED ON 20 th  MARCH, 2025

## Strengthening of Strategic Petroleum Reserves

3449. Smt. Pratima Mondal:

## पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũी

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

- (a) the manner in which the Government is strengthening Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) to  mitigate  the  risks  from  geopolitical  uncertainties,  global  supply  chain  disruptions  and price volatility;
- (b) the  steps  being  taken  to  diversify  crude  oil  and  LNG  import  sources  and  the  manner  in which  the  Government  plans  to  negotiate  more  favourable  long-term  contracts  with international suppliers; and
- (c) the manner in which the Government plans to balance fossil fuel reliance with renewable energy integration, ensuring a smooth transition to cleaner energy sources without disrupting economic growth?

## ANSWER

## पेट Ō ोिलयम और Ůाक ृ ितक गैस मंũालय मŐ राǛ मंũी ( ŵी सुरे श गोपी )

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS (SHRI SURESH GOPI)

- (a):   Government, through a Special Purpose Vehicle called Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited  (ISPRL),  has  established  Strategic  Petroleum  Reserves  (SPR)  facilities  with  total capacity  of  5.33  Million  Metric  Tonnes  (MMT)  of  crude  oil  at  3  locations  namely  (i) Vishakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), (ii) Mangaluru (1.5 MMT) and (iii) Padur (2.5 MMT) capacity.

To  further  augment  the  SPR  capacity,  Government,  in  July  2021,  had  also  approved  the establishment of two additional commercial-cum-strategic petroleum reserve facilities with total storage  capacity  of  6.5  MMT  at  Chandikhol  (4  MMT)  in  Odisha  and  Padur  (2.5  MMT)  in Karnataka, on a Public Private Partnership mode. Government and OMCs evaluate, from time to time,  the  possibility  of  augmentation  of  storage  capacities  based  on  technical  and  commercial feasibility. Assessment  of  new  sites for establishing additional petroleum  reserves is a continuous process.

(b):    To ensure security of crude supplies and to mitigate the risk of dependence on crude oil from single region, Indian Oil Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have diversified their crude basket  and  are  procuring  crude  from  countries  located  at  various  geographical  locations  viz. Middle  East,  Africa,  North  America,  South  America  etc.  Further,  Government  has  already diversified  the  import  of  LNG  by  adding  Australia,  USA  and  UAE  as  sourcing  destinations. India  has  also  signed  various  long  term  agreements  for  procurement  of  LNG  for  ensuring uninterrupted supplies and safeguearding from price volatility.

(c): To counter the reliance on fossil fuels, Government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to promote clean energy which, inter alia, include:

-  Demand  substitution  by  promoting  usage  of  natural  gas  as  fuel/feedstock  across  the country towards increasing the share of natural gas in economy and moving towards gas based economy.
-  Promotion  of  renewable  and  alternate  fuels  like  ethanol,  second  generation  ethanol, compressed bio gas, biodiesel, Green Hydrogen and Evs.
-  Refinery process improvements, promoting energy efficiency and conservation,
-  Efforts  for  increasing  production  of  oil  and  natural  gas  through  various  policies initiatives, etc. For promoting the use of Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) as automotive fuel, Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) initiative has also been launched.
-  To promote the use of biofuels across the country, various programmes, such as Ethanol Blended  Petrol  (EBP)  Programme,  wherein  Oil  Marketing  Companies  (OMCs)  sell petrol blended with ethanol, Biodiesel blending programme wherein biodiesel is blended with diesel, have been taken up.

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