ONGC to reserve half of oil storage facility in Mangaluru towards strategic reserves: MoS Petroleum
The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas informed Parliament that Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will reserve half of its planned oil storage facility at Mangaluru, Karnataka, for the country's strategic petroleum reserves.
The facility under discussion has a planned capacity of about 1.75 million metric tonnes, with roughly half earmarked for strategic (as opposed to commercial) storage.
Parliament was informed that India's current total national storage capacity for crude oil and petroleum products — combining strategic reserves and oil marketing company (OMC) stocks — can cover approximately 74 days of net crude oil import requirements.
The announcement is linked to the government's broader Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Phase-II expansion, planned partly through a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
India's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Programme — ISPRL
India's Strategic Petroleum Reserves are managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited (ISPRL), a special purpose vehicle under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (under the Oil Industry Development Board), created to build underground rock-cavern storage for crude oil to cushion against global supply disruptions, distinct from the buffer stocks maintained commercially by oil marketing companies.
Key Details
- Phase-I SPR facilities exist at three locations: Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh, ~1.33 MMT), Mangaluru (Karnataka, ~1.5 MMT) and Padur (Karnataka, ~2.5 MMT) — total capacity about 5.33 million metric tonnes.
- This Phase-I capacity alone provides cover for roughly 9.5 days of India's net crude oil import requirement; combined with OMC storage of about 64.5 days, the total national cover reaches about 74 days.
- SPR Phase-II involves additional storage at Padur and new sites such as Chandikhol (Odisha) and Bikaner (Rajasthan), planned on a public-private partnership basis with viability gap funding.
- ONGC's proposed Mangaluru facility, with roughly half its capacity reserved strategically, adds to this Phase-II expansion effort, alongside its role in supplying feedstock to the Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) refinery located at the same site.
The Mangaluru announcement is a direct addition to India's strategic reserve capacity, aimed at narrowing the gap between India's current ~74-day cover and the internationally recommended benchmark.
IEA 90-Day Import Cover Norm and India's Energy Security Status
The International Energy Agency (IEA) recommends that member and associate countries maintain oil stocks equivalent to at least 90 days of net oil imports, as a buffer against global supply shocks. India, though only an Associate (not a full) member of the IEA since 2017, has adopted this benchmark as a policy goal for its own energy security planning, even though it is not bound by the same mandatory obligations as full IEA members.
Key Details
- India imports over 85% of its crude oil requirement, making import-dependent supply security a core economic and strategic concern.
- The 90-day IEA benchmark applies to full members' government-controlled and/or industry stocks; India's current ~74-day combined cover (strategic plus commercial) still falls short of this target.
- Government policy documents cite closing this gap as a rationale for both SPR Phase-II expansion and encouraging OMCs and public sector oil companies (like ONGC) to build additional dedicated strategic storage.
ONGC's decision to earmark strategic capacity at Mangaluru is explicitly framed by the government as a step toward closing India's shortfall against the IEA's 90-day norm.
Strategic Reserves and Energy Security as an Internal Security Concern
Assured energy supply is treated as a component of national and internal security planning because crude oil import dependence exposes India to price shocks and supply disruptions from geopolitical events (e.g., conflicts in oil-producing/transit regions, chokepoint disruptions such as the Strait of Hormuz). Strategic reserves function as a buffer analogous to food security buffer stocks, ensuring continuity of fuel supply for defence, transport and critical infrastructure during a crisis.
Key Details
- SPR facilities are constructed as underground rock caverns for reasons of security, cost efficiency and protection from surface threats, similar in principle to other critical-infrastructure protection strategies.
- Coordination for strategic reserve management involves the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas together with the Ministry of Home Affairs' broader critical infrastructure security framework.
Reserving a defined share of new storage capacity for strategic (not just commercial) use protects fuel availability specifically for crisis-response and security-critical use cases, rather than only ordinary market supply.
- ONGC's planned Mangaluru storage facility capacity: approximately 1.75 million metric tonnes; roughly half reserved for strategic reserves
- India's current total oil storage cover: approximately 74 days of net crude import requirement (SPR ~9.5 days + OMC stocks ~64.5 days)
- Existing SPR Phase-I capacity: approximately 5.33 million metric tonnes across Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru and Padur
- IEA recommended benchmark: 90 days of net oil import cover; India is an IEA Associate member (since 2017), not a full member
- India's crude oil import dependence: over 85% of domestic requirement
- SPR Phase-II: planned expansion via PPP model with viability gap funding, including sites such as Chandikhol and Bikaner