ONGC commits for 1.75 MMT crude oil reserve expansion at Mangalore, Karnataka

India’s largest oil refiner, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has announced the exchanges that it has committed to approve the development of 1.75 MMT capacity Strategic Petroleum Reserves as part of oil reserve expansion at Mangalore, Karnataka.

According to the exchange filing, the Board of Directors of the Company has, inter alia, accorded an in-principle approval for the development of 1.75 MMT capacity Strategic Petroleum Reserves as a project of national importance along with associated facilities at Mangalore (Phase-I Extension) as per the directives of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG).

In addition, the Board also directed to take up with the Government of India broadening commercial utilization opportunities with associated regulatory support.

The state-run firm has approved the development of a strategic oil reserve at Mangalore to mark the largest oil exploration in order to ease and aid the creation of a strategic crude storage facility.

The project is supposed to add 1.75 MMT of oil reserve capacity for the country's strategic petroleum reserve under the Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd. (ISPRL). Presently, there is 5.33 MMT of strategic crude storage across several underground reserves like Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, and Padur. This expansion has come under the crucial efforts to maintain and balance the recent energy demands amid geopolitical disruptions leading to disrupting the global oil supply chains. The current ongoing escalation of strife between the US and Iran is a significant reason behind the crude inventions and reserving policies to cut down the import dependence.