Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Approves 1.75 Million Tonne Strategic Crude Reserve in Karnataka

Key facts

• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has approved the construction of a new strategic crude oil storage facility with a capacity of 1.75 million tonnes at Mangaluru, Karnataka.
• This project marks the first instance of a government-owned oil producer investing its own funds to build a Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR).
• India currently maintains underground crude oil storage facilities with a total capacity of 5.33 million tonnes across Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, and Padur.
• The SPRs are managed by the government-owned Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL).
• The government is constructing two additional strategic storage sites to add 6.5 million tonnes of capacity to the existing reserves.
• India imports nearly 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements, making it the world's third-largest energy consumer.
• The new facility will complement the operations of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL), a subsidiary of ONGC that operates a 300,000-barrel-per-day refinery.
• Existing storage space at Mangaluru is partially leased to international firms, including the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).