No need for panic, normal delivery cycle of 2.5 days maintained: Oil Ministry on LPG bookings

A worker arranges LPG cylinders on a truck amid reports of cooking gas shortage, in Kolkata, on Wednesday. PIC/PTI

Amid the ongoing West Asia conflict, a senior Oil Ministry official on Wednesday said that there is no need for panic booking of LPG cylinders, and that the normal delivery cycle of two-and-a-half days is being maintained.

India's crude oil supplies remain secure, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, told reporters at a briefing.

Crude oil is being sourced from non-Strait of Hormuz routes, she said.

Government measures have led to a 25 per cent rise in LPG production, according to the ministry.

She said that there is no need for panic booking of cooking gas cylinders and assured that the normal delivery cycle for domestic households remains at two-and-a-half days.

"Feedback suggests that some panic booking and hoarding behaviour by miss-information. I want to clarify that our normal deliver cycle for domestic LPG remains around two-and-a-half days, so I request...there is no need for customers to rush-book the cylinders... there is no need for panic booking," she said.

State governments have been asked to take preventive actions to prevent hoarding and black marketing of fuel, according to the ministry.

"India's crude supply remains secure. Our daily consumption is about 55 lakh barrels...through diversified procurement, the volumes we have secured today exceed what would normally have arrived through the Strait of Hormuz during this period," she said.

India imports crude from nearly 40 countries.

The oil marketing companies have secured various crude cargoes from different sources, and as a result of this diversification, about 70 per cent of India's crude imports are now coming from routes outside the Strait of Hormuz, compared with about 55 per cent earlier, she added.
"As I speak to you today, about two LNG cargoes are headed for India, and they will arrive within a few days, which will further strengthen the crude supply position in the country," Sharma said.

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