New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday that the government is “doing everything possible” to safeguard India’s energy security amid the disruptions in oil and gas supplies caused by the Iran war.

Addressing a media event here, PM Modi said that his government has worked in a holistic manner to make India “self-reliant” in the energy sector, which has resulted in huge savings for the country.

“Before 2014, India had negligible storage capacity for strategic petroleum reserves. Now, we have significant reserves,” he remarked, referring to the government having established Strategic Petroleum Reserve facilities with a total capacity of 5.33 million metric tonnes (MMT), which can act as a buffer for short-term supply shocks such as geopolitical conflicts. This is meant to provide for about 9.5 days of crude oil requirement.

In addition, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in the country have storage facilities for crude oil and petroleum products for 64.5 days. Hence, the current total national capacity for storage of crude oil and petroleum products is 74 days.

PM Modi also said that the government was determined to ensure that the citizens of India do not face any problems due to wars in different parts of the world.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said on Thursday that all steps are being taken by the government to ensure uninterrupted energy supplies, with 50 lakh LPG cylinders being delivered every day, so consumers should avoid “panic booking” of cooking gas.

It is the 13th day of war, and for the first time in recorded history, the Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed to commercial shipping.

However, for India, crude is being sourced from more than 40 countries, and 70 per cent of the crude suppliers are now coming from routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, the ministry statement said.

India’s daily oil consumption is 5.5 million barrels, and it is the fourth largest refiner in the world with 22 refineries in the country. Further, refineries are operating at high-capacity utilisation; in several cases, they are exceeding 100 per cent. This large refining capacity is allowing the country a much more comfortable position in terms of the availability of petroleum products during the current war crisis.

There are over 1 lakh retail outlets providing petroleum products, all of which have adequate stocks, as per the government.

–IANS

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