‘No Shortage Of Fuel’, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri Assures Parliament Amid Hormuz Strait Closure

New Delhi: Union minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas gave ‘full’ assurance on Thursday that there is no shortage of fuel or energy in India even as the world has not faced a crisis like this, with concerns mounting globally due to the closure of Strait of Hormuz.

“There is no shortage of petrol, diesel, kerosene, ATF or fuel oil. The availability of petrol, diesel, aviation and fuel oil is fully assured,” Puri assured, addressing the Lok Sabha.

“The world has not faced a moment like this in modern energy history… India’s crude supply position is secure, and the volume secured exceeds what the Hormuz would have delivered. Before the crisis, approximately 45 per cent of India’s crude imports transited through the Strait of Hormuz route. Thanks to the Prime Minister’s outstanding diplomatic outreach and goodwill, India has secured crude volumes that exceed what the disrupted strait of Hormuz could have delivered in the same period,” Puri said.

Puri was responding after Leader of Opposition (LoP) Rahul Gandhi questioned the government why it needs Donald Trump’s permission to diversify its energy resources.

Explaining how India was dealing with the situation, the Petroleum minister said: “The refineries are operating at high capacity utilisation. In several cases, they are exceeding 100 per cent”

Puri said that procurement of LPG has been actively diversified as India is now receiving cargoes from the United States, Norway, Canada, Algeria and Russia and that India’s LPG production “has been increased by 28%” through refinery directives.

“It should be noted that India was previously importing approximately 60% of its LPG requirements from Gulf countries such as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, while 40% is produced domestically. Procurement has now been actively diversified, with cargoes being secured from the United States, Norway, Canada, Algeria and Russia… Hence, in the last five days, LPG production has been increased by 28% through refinery directives, and further procurement is currently underway,” Puri stated.