60 days of oil stock in place, no shortage: India clarifies amid US-Iran war

NEw new delhi: The oil ministry on th said bharat has close to 60 days of actual fuel stock cover and there is no shortage of petrol, diesel or LPG anywhere in the country, as it moved to counter what it called a “deliberate, coordinated misinformation campaign” driving panic buying across several states.The ministry said all 100,000 plus retail fuel outlets are operating without interruption and that not a single outlet has been asked to ration supply — a rebuttal of social media posts citing six-day stock figures and images of queues at pumps, some of which, the ministry said, were lifted from global news footage of rationing in other countries.On crude supply, the ministry said India is currently receiving more oil from its 41-plus suppliers than was previously arriving through the Strait of Hormuz, with higher volumes from the western hemisphere more than compensating for the disruption. Every Indian refinery is running at above 100% utilisation and crude procurement for the next 60 days has been tied up. “There is no supply gap,” it said.Also Read | ‘60 days of oil stocks, 800,000 tonnes LPG’: Govt releases stock details amid ‘emergency’ fearsOn strategic reserves, the ministry said India has 74 days of total reserve capacity; with actual stock cover is around 60 days, combining crude stocks, product stocks and dedicated cavern strategic storage. “Nearly two months of steady supply is available for every Indian citizen regardless of what happens globally. The quantity in strategic cavern storage becomes secondary in such a supply situation. Therefore, any representation that India’s reserves are depleted or insufficient should be dismissed with the disdain it deserves,” the ministry said.State-owned Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd operates strategic storage at three locations with a combined capacity of 5.33 million metric tonnes, currently at approximately two-thirds capacity — sufficient, by a 2021 government estimate based on 2019-20 consumption, to cover about 9.5 days of crude requirement on its own.The LPG picture, which has been the most acute pressure point since Iran struck Qatar’s Ras Laffan energy infrastructure, has improved, the ministry claimed. Following the LPG Control Order, domestic refinery output has been ramped up by 40%, bringing daily production to 50,000 metric tonnes — more than 60% of India’s daily requirement of around 80,000 metric tonnes.Also Read | Switch to PNG if available or lose LPG supply: Govt's order to households amid shortage concernsThe net daily import requirement has consequently fallen to 30,000 metric tonnes. Over and above domestic output, 800,000 metric tonnes of LPG is en route from the US, Russia, Australia and other countries, arriving across 22 import terminals — double the 11 that existed in 2014, the government said. Oil companies are delivering over five million cylinders a day; cylinder demand, which had spiked to 8.9 million last week, has returned to a more typical daily demand of five million, the ministry said.The government’s assurances have not fully stemmed the anxiety. Panic buying continued for a second consecutive day on Thursday, with long queues at filling stations reported in Gujarat — where fuel sales rose four to five times since Monday — as well as in Kashmir, parts of Karnataka and Goa. Some stations in Surat and Ahmedabad shut temporarily to replenish stocks; pump owners in Surat capped purchases at ₹200 for two-wheelers and ₹2,000 for four-wheelers. To ease working capital constraints on dealers, oil companies have extended credit to pump owners to over three days from the earlier one day.Against this backdrop, private refiner Nayara Energy — the country’s largest private fuel retailer with approximately 7,000 outlets — on Thursday raised petrol prices by ₹5 a litre and diesel by ₹3, becoming the first oil marketing company to revise auto fuel rates since the conflict began. All refiners are estimated to be losing at least ₹25 per litre on normal petrol and diesel, with state-run IOC, BPCL and HPCL — which together hold over 90% of the retail market — unable to pass on costs given the government’s tacit control over pump prices. Normal petrol and diesel rates at state-run pumps have been frozen since April 2022.