ONGC approves strategic oil reserve expansion after Iran war exposes risks
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India’s state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp. approved an expansion of the country’s strategic oil reserves, highlighting a push to strengthen energy resilience following the shock of the Iran war.
The board of the country’s largest oil-and-gas producer gave the green light to add 1.75 million tons of capacity in Mangalore, Karnataka, to national crude reserves, according to a filing. The cost and timeline weren’t given.
When complete, the project will increase holdings managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd., the state-owned entity that oversees the stockpiles. At present, Indian Strategic has underground caverns at three sites on the east and west coasts that total 5.33 million tons. In addition, two more sites are being built to add a further 6.5 million tons of space.
India is a major importer of crude oil and natural gas from the Persian Gulf region, and the near-total closure of the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran war triggered an energy crisis, as importers were forced to look for alternatives. ONGC is the first government-owned company to invest its own funds to build out strategic stockpiles, with state-owned refiners and oil producers previously building only commercial storage.
The new project is of “national importance,” ONGC said in the filing on Friday, adding that it would also develop associated facilities at the site in accordance with directives from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
The government wants reserves of crude, and liquefied natural and petroleum gas, to be large enough to meet as much as a month of domestic demand. To that end, the authorities have backed public-private partnerships to reduce the cost burden for the state, while also asking state-run producers and refiners to expand commercial reserves, and help build out strategic stockpiles.
Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd., an ONGC subsidiary, operates a 300,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Karnataka state, and ONGC may use the new caverns in conjunction with MRPL for storage. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. — the United Arab Emirates’ largest oil company — is among companies that have leased space in the existing caverns in Mangalore.
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