New Delhi, October 25
The government said today there was 15 days of reserve stock of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for use in the country and the Oil Marketing Companies
(OMCs)
had already floated tenders to procure fuel from abroad in an eventuality of a shortage following the fire that broke out in the Reliance Refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat.
“There is no need for panic”, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said here after assessing the situation a day after a fire broke out in the refinery that produces 25 per cent of petroleum products used in the country.
He said the OMCs had been asked to pitch in through more imports if needed. Also, tenders had been floated by these PSUs, which could be materialised if the need arose for imports.
Mr Deora said Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) had conveyed that it had 10 to 12 days reserve stocks in the refinery.
The refinery at Jamnagar begun working at 100 per cent capacity output and there would be no shortage of LPG in any of its stations, company sources said today.
Reliance Refinery, the biggest in the country and one of the largest in the world, supplies at least 25 per cent of petroleum products to the country. It was caught in a blaze yesterday morning and there were apprehensions that LPG supplies to consumers might be hit.
Meanwhile, the government said at least 65,000 tonnes of LPG could be imported to offset any shortfall of the fuel in the aftermath of the blaze. Other oil marketing companies like HPCL, IOC, and BPCL etc had been asked to pitch in their supplies to tide over shortfalls.
— UNI
