NEW DELHI, February 10. /TASS/. Strategic oil reserves of India are capable of meeting economic needs of the country during 74 days in case of any global shocks, India’s Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said in a written answer to an enquiry from members of the upper house of the Indian parliament.
"Overall, the strategic petroleum reserve is a very important component in economic stability. This is a very important component in our energy security. The strategic petroleum reserve is designed to ensure that in case of total global turbulence, we must have enough stock left to meet our needs," the minister said.
"I feel as the minister, safe with something at 74 days. But, we can consider raising it going forward," Puri added.
The Indian government created India Strategic Petroleum Reserve Ltd (ISPRL) to provide for oil inventories. The company has three storage facilities of raw hydrocarbons with the total volume of 5.33 mln metric tons of crude oi. They are currently 77% filled, which amounts to about 4.094 mln tons of oil.