New Delhi: India bought crude oil at an average price of $19 per barrel to fill its strategic crude oil reserves, and in the process saved $685.11 million, petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
India leveraged the depressed prices and lack of demand on account of the coronavirus pandemic to make this saving and filled its existing storage capacity of 5.3 million tonnes (mt) at Visakhapatnam (1.33mt), Mangaluru (1.5 mt) and Padur (2.5mt).
Strategic crude oil reserves, which are typically state-funded and meant to tackle emergency situations, allow a country to tide over short-term supply disruptions. International Energy Agency (IEA) members maintain emergency oil reserves equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports.
