Government to set up oil reserve of 5 MMT

Noida, June 20 (UNI) Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora today said the government has decided to construct a strategic crude oil reserve of 5 MMT to meet the emergent demands of the oil sector.

Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has been created as a wholly owned subsidiary of Oil Industry Development Board (OIDB) for the same.

The ISPRL will construct crude oil storages at three locations -- Visakhapatnam, Mangalore and Padur.

''OIDB will incur about Rs 2,400 crore on the construction of these crude oil storages,'' said Mr Deora.

The minister today also launched 'National Gas Hydrate Programme' taking into consideration the country's increasing demand for energy.

OIDB is the funding agency and an amount of Rs 200 crore has been incurred and the large eastern and western offshore areas of the country is being surveyed for Gas Hydrates.

The minister also said the government will implement the plan to set up an educational institute 'Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology' in Bareilly.

Earlier Planning Commission has expressed its skepticism on setting the institute in Bareilly. It stated the city does not has a refinery near it.

''Because the place does not has anything, there are all the more reasons to set up this institute there. A institute has nothing to do with a refinery,'' Mr Deora reacted.

UNI