India is unlikely to confront a major supply disruption in petrol and diesel availability in the near future, though the Middle East war between Iran- US, Israel and its allies is now expected to last many weeks. India is taking adequate measures to ensure any oil supply disruption, say informed petroleum industry sources.

They note that India, the third-largest oil consumer in the world which imports over 85% of its oil requirements, has Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) of 5.33 million metric tonnes (MMT) of crude oil (approximately 39 million barrels) across three locations—Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, and Padur. Managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), these underground caverns can provide cover for about 10 days of strategic storage.

This is being expanded further to provide cover for another 12 days. India's refiners and oil marketing companies (OMCs) have a commercial inventory of crude oil and refined products like petrol and diesel that can last for about two months. Put together, the country can comfortably manage its fuel supplies without disruption for at least 60-70 days, if the crisis continues for another few weeks.

Alternative options in the Middle East being explored

India consumes about 5.5 million barrels per day, accounting for about 5.46% of the world's total oil consumption. Of this, domestic production is close to one million barrels per day. India imports about 5 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, with about 2.5–2.7 million barrels transported through the Strait of Hormuz every day. With the war disrupting transport through Hormuz, alternative options in the Middle East are being explored - from the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

The UAE has a 400 km Habshan–Fujairah (ADCOP) pipeline with a capacity of 1.5 million barrels per day. This pipeline transports crude oil directly from onshore fields in Abu Dhabi to the port of Fujairah on the Gulf of Oman, bypassing Hormuz. Another option is to get oil cargoes from Saudi Arabia's Yanbu Commercial Port in the Red Sea. Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia are traditional crude oil sourcing destinations for India.

Sourcing crude from West Africa, Latin America, and the US

Sources say India is now increasingly sourcing crude from West Africa, Latin America, and the US. With the US Treasury allowing a one-month waiver for sourcing Russian crude till April 5, Indian refiners are urgently trying to contract available Russian oil tankers already in the water with about 120 million barrels of oil.

Further, experts say the Government can also explore putting a cap on petroleum exports from the country if the crisis continues. In FY25, India exported 64.7 million metric tons (MMT) of petroleum products like high-speed diesel, petrol and aviation fuel, mainly to countries like the Netherlands, UAE, Singapore, USA, and UK.