New Delhi, March 11
Two liquefied natural gas cargoes are on their way to India to augment supplies for domestic consumers as the public sector oil and gas companies have stepped up imports from outside the Middle East amid the Iran war, a senior Central government official said on Wednesday.
"Crude supply remains secure. Volumes secured today exceed what normally would arrive from the Strait of Hormuz. Oil marketing companies secured various crude cargoes from different countries. As much as 75 per cent of crude is now coming from routes other than Hormuz against 55 per cent earlier," Joint Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Sujata Sharma, said at a press conference here
On the panic booking of LPG triggered by the Middle East crisis, she said that the normal delivery cycle for domestic LPG remains 2.5 days, so there is no need for customers to rush and book cylinders.
The government is constantly monitoring energy supplies and undertaking important measures amid the Middle East crisis, she added.
"Procurement through alternative routes is underway to secure supplies. We import 60 per cent of our requirements. Domestic LPG production has increased by 25 per cent and is being directed to household consumers after the government took steps to increase output," the official said.
"Our refineries are operating at the highest capacity utilisation, some are even operating at more than 100 per cent of their capacity. The total consumption of gas is 189 mmscmd, of which 97.5 mmscmd is produced domestically, while the rest is imported. About 47.4 mmscmd supply has been affected due to force majeure conditions triggered by the Iran war," she added.
The concerns over a natural gas shortage arose after Qatar paused production due to attacks launched by Iran. The Gulf country is India's biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas.
Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also assured consumers on Tuesday that there was no shortage of LPG for household kitchens.
The Central government on Tuesday also issued orders under the Essential Commodities Act to ensure an uninterrupted supply of piped natural gas for household kitchens, LPG and CNG for transport on top priority amid disruption in supplies due to the ongoing war in the Middle East.
It assessed that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East has resulted in the disruption of liquefied natural gas shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, and suppliers have invoked force majeure clauses, which would entail diversion of natural gas to the priority sectors, the order states.
The order states that priority allocation shall be maintained, subject to operational availability, to 100 per cent of their average past six-month average gas consumption for the supply of natural gas for domestic piped natural gas supply, compressed natural gas for transport, LPG production, including LPG shrinkage requirements, as well as pipeline compressor fuel and other essential pipeline operational requirements. This has been listed as priority sector 1.
The Centre has directed refineries and petrochemical units to maximise production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and divert key hydrocarbon streams to the LPG pool.
- IANS
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