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India to set up 15 days' strategic oil reserve
Thursday, 08 January 2004, 20:30 IST
NEW DELHI: The Indian government said Wednesday it would create a 15 days' strategic crude oil reserve as an "emergency response mechanism" to short-term supply disruptions.
The five million tonne reserve will be held in three rock cavern storages, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told reporters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Two storages would be created near Mangalore in Karnataka and the third near Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, she added.
The cavern storages will cost 
16.50 billion while 50 billion would be spent for the five million tonnes of crude. The annual cost for servicing the debt and operations would be around 8 billion.
"As regards the financing mechanism for the project, it was decided by the cabinet that this will be firmed up by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas in discussions with the ministry of finance," said an official statement.
India imports around 69 percent of its crude requirements and 67 percent of this comes from the Middle East.
During the year 2002-03, India imported 82 million metric tonnes of crude valued at 762 billion.
Swaraj said the strategic storage would be in addition to the existing holdings of crude oil and petroleum products with the oil companies.
Source: IANS
16.50 billion while 50 billion would be spent for the five million tonnes of crude. The annual cost for servicing the debt and operations would be around 8 billion.
"As regards the financing mechanism for the project, it was decided by the cabinet that this will be firmed up by the ministry of petroleum and natural gas in discussions with the ministry of finance," said an official statement.
India imports around 69 percent of its crude requirements and 67 percent of this comes from the Middle East.
During the year 2002-03, India imported 82 million metric tonnes of crude valued at 762 billion.
Swaraj said the strategic storage would be in addition to the existing holdings of crude oil and petroleum products with the oil companies.
Source: IANS