India has saved Rs 5,000 crore in foreign exchange after it capitalised on the global low oil prices to fill its underground strategic oil storage to shore up insurance against any supply or price disruption, the Petroleum Ministry said on Wednesday.
While the 5.33 million tonnes of emergency storage — enough to meet India’s oil needs for 9.5 days — was built in underground rock caverns in Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh by the government, state-owned oil firms were in April asked to buy import oil when global rates fell to a two-decade low.
“Taking advantage of low crude prices due to the Covid-19 situation, India filled its strategic reserves to full capacity,” the ministry said in a tweet adding this led to a forex saving of Rs 5,000 crore. Oil prices globally had slumped after coronavirus pummeled demand.
