ONGC board approves plan for 1.75-million-tonne strategic oil reserve at Mangaluru

New Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Friday said its board has given in-principle approval to develop a 1.75 million tonne strategic petroleum reserve at Mangaluru, expanding India's emergency crude oil storage capacity.

The project, along with associated facilities, will be developed as the Phase-I extension of the Mangaluru strategic petroleum reserve, the company said in a stock exchange filing.

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Without giving financial details or the timelines of the project, ONGC said its board also authorised the company to engage with the central government on expanding commercial utilisation of the facility, subject to the required regulatory support.

India's strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) programme was launched to strengthen the country's energy security by maintaining emergency crude oil stockpiles that can be drawn down during supply disruptions or sharp spikes in global oil prices. The reserves are in addition to the operational inventories maintained by oil marketing companies and refiners.

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In the first phase of the programme, India built underground rock caverns with a combined capacity of about 5.33 million tonnes at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Mangaluru in Karnataka and Padur in Karnataka. The facilities are operated by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), a special purpose vehicle under the Oil Industry Development Board.

The government has also approved a second phase of the SPR programme, including the expansion of the Padur facility and development of a new strategic reserve at Chandikhol in Odisha, aimed at significantly increasing India's emergency crude storage capacity.

India, the world's third-largest crude oil importer and consumer, imports more than 88 percent of its crude oil requirements, making strategic reserves an important part of its energy security strategy amid geopolitical tensions and volatility in global oil markets.

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