India may soon store crude oil in US, other foreign nations; invites cos to enhance domestic capacity

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan today said that the government is exploring overseas crude storage facilities in the US and other commercially viable locations. Speaking at the ‘GCTC Energy Security Conference 2020’, Dharmendra Pradhan added that taking the advantage of low crude oil prices in April and May 2020, India filled the existing strategic petroleum reserves with 16 million barrels of crude oil, resulting in saving Rs 5,000 crore for the government. The minister further invited the participation of companies in the development of 6.5 MMT of crude storage capacities at Chandikol and Padur in the next commercial-cum-strategic reserve programme, according to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.