Muscat – India is considering Oman and other Middle Eastern countries as potential options for strategic oil storage while also expanding its reserves domestically. This move aims to accelerate India’s storage capacity expansion amid geopolitical tensions, according to the chief executive officer of Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL).

India’s efforts to increase storage capacity both at home and abroad will bring the country closer to meeting the strategic oil storage requirements set by International Energy Agency (IEA) in the medium to long term, L R Jain, CEO of ISPRL, said in an interview with S&P Global Commodity Insights during India Energy Week in New Delhi last week.

“Oman is one of the places we are considering. We could also look at other Middle Eastern destinations in the future to hold oil at SPRs (strategic petroleum reserves), although nothing concrete has been finalised,” Jain said.

According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, India’s current strategic petroleum reserves cover approximately 9.5 days of total net oil imports. Additionally, state-run oil companies maintain storage facilities for crude oil and petroleum products equivalent to 64.5 days of total net imports. This brings the country’s overall storage capacity for crude oil and petroleum products to 74 days of total net imports.

However, IEA member countries are required to maintain oil stock levels equivalent to at least 90 days of their net imports.

“Our expansion plans, both domestically and internationally, will help strengthen the SPR network. Our strategic vision is to significantly increase our SPR capacity beyond its current level,” Jain told S&P Global Commodity Insights.

India aims to triple its strategic petroleum reserve capacity over the next decade, increasing it from the current level of under 5.5mn metric tonnes to more than 15mn metric tonnes within the next ten years, Jain added.