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Disruption across key global oil supply routes, rather than availability of crude, remains the bigger risk as the West Asia crisis persists and could worsen, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday. Global crude availability, he said, is around 102 million barrels per day (bpd) against requirement of 94-95 million bpd.
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“The crisis is certainly not over; it is not only ongoing but has the potential of exacerbating and could get more serious,” Puri said at the Public Affairs Forum of India’s annual conclave in New Delhi.
“There is no shortage per se of crude,” he said, pointing instead to disruption across supply routes and risks around key energy chokepoints.
India has so far managed to cushion the impact by diversifying crude purchases and expanding refining capacity. The country now sources crude from 41 countries, up from 27 earlier.
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Domestic refining capacity is around 267 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and is expected to rise to about 290 MTPA within a year. India consumes nearly 5.6 million bpd of crude, while exporting around 1 million bpd of refined petroleum products.
LPG has faced sharper supply concerns because of dependence on flows through the Strait of Hormuz. During the disruption, India raised domestic LPG production to 56,000 tonnes per day to meet the demand, Puri said.
The minister, however, cautioned against assuming India would remain insulated if the crisis intensifies. “We have been able to successfully negotiate our way and navigate our way and insulate ourselves from the worst part of the crisis thus far,” he said.
TOPICSWest AsiaThis article was first uploaded on September twenty-five, twenty twenty-six, at fifty-eight minutes past one in the night. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd