New Delhi: India’s 1.5 million tonne strategic petroleum reserve in Mangalore, one of the two such caverns, is expected to get the first oil shipment from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in May, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday.
Pradhan said that India was looking for a model which will be a win-win for itself and the company filling the reserve.
“ADNOC will fill up the cavern at its own capital spending. We have signed a business agreement,” said the minister.
The minister also said that bilateral relations between India and UAE will strengthen in coming days in areas of petrochemicals, refineries upstream oil and gas exploration as well as infrastructure.
India has so far built strategic reserve capacity of 5.3 million tonne at three locations Vishakhapatnam (1.33 million tonne), Mangaluru (1.5 million tonne) and Padur (2.5 million tonne) at a cost of Rs4,098 crore. The country is exploring expanding this capacity further.
According to official estimates, India has an estimated 63 days of commercial storage in India, in the public and private sectors, including crude oil, petroleum products and gas.