New Delhi: The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas on Thursday said India’s petroleum and LPG supply system is “fully secure and under control,” adding that the country has fuel stock cover sufficient for 60 days. The ministry said that retail fuel outlets across the country have ample stock and are dispensing fuel without interruption.
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“All retail fuel outlets have enough supplies. There is no shortage of petrol, diesel, or LPG anywhere in the country,” the ministry said, calling on citizens not to be “misled by a deliberately mischievous, coordinated campaign of misinformation” that it said was creating unjustified panic.
The ministry said all “1 lakh-plus retail fuel outlets across the country are open and dispensing fuel without interruption” and that “not a single outlet has been asked to ration supply.”
The ministry said India’s fuel position remains comfortable even amid tensions around the Strait of Hormuz, asserting that crude supplies for the next 60 days have already been tied up. “Crude oil supplies for next 60 days have already been tied up by Indian oil companies. There is NO supply gap,” the ministry said.
It added that India has “74 days of total reserve capacity and actual stock cover is around 60 days right now,” including crude stocks, product stocks and strategic storage.
Responding to concerns over supply disruption, the ministry said India is receiving more crude oil from its more than 41 suppliers than what was earlier arriving through the Strait of Hormuz. “High volumes available in international markets — especially from the western hemisphere — have more than compensated for any disruption,” it said, adding that “every Indian refinery is running at over 100 percent utilisation.”
The ministry also said oil companies have kept depots running through the night to meet any spike in demand and have raised credit to petrol pumps to more than three days, from the earlier one-day allowance, to prevent supply bottlenecks.
“Because India is a net exporter to the world, domestic petrol and diesel availability is structurally assured... Across the world, countries are dealing with price increases, rationing, odd-even vehicle restrictions, and forced station closures. Few have declared “National Energy Emergency.” India DOES NOT FEEL THE NEED FOR ANY SUCH MEASURES. While other nations are rationing, there is no shortage of supplies in India,” said the ministry.
Referring to isolated instances of panic buying at select petrol pumps, the ministry said that they were driven by deliberate misinformation spread by certain videos on social media.
On LPG, the ministry said domestic refinery production has risen sharply after the LPG Control Order, reducing the need for imports. “Domestic refinery production has been ramped up by 40 percent, bringing daily LPG output to 50 TMT (more than 60 percent of our requirement) against a total daily requirement of around 80 TMT,” it said.
The ministry said the net daily import requirement has fallen to 30 TMT and that “800 TMT of assured inbound LPG cargoes are already secured and en route from the United States, Russia, Australia, and other countries.”
It added that oil companies are delivering “over 50 lakh cylinders every day” and said the earlier spike in demand, which had touched 89 lakh cylinders, was linked to panic ordering and had since eased back to 50 lakh cylinders.
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The ministry also defended the push for piped natural gas, saying it is part of a broader energy transition and not a response to any shortage in LPG. “The claim that PNG is being pushed because LPG is running out is misinformation. LPG supply is secure,” it said, adding that PNG is “cheaper, cleaner, and safer for Indian households.”
It said the growth of city gas distribution and PNG connections reflects a long-term shift that was already underway before the current situation.
The ministry said it had taken serious note of misleading social media posts, videos and articles that it said were being used to create fear about fuel availability. It said some posts had “deliberately misrepresented” the Natural Gas Control Order and the LPG Control Order as emergency measures, when they are in fact standard administrative instruments for supply prioritisation.
“Spreading false information regarding essential commodity availability is an offence under applicable laws, and the government will not hesitate to act against those found to be deliberately creating panic,” the ministry said.
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