India approves plan to expand strategic oil reserves

NEW DELHI, July 11: India's largest state-run oil and gas producer has approved plans to develop a 1.75 million metric tons strategic petroleum reserve, as New Delhi seeks to bolster energy security after being hit hard during the Middle East war.

India, the world's third-largest importer of oil and the second-largest buyer of liquefied petroleum gas, has faced major disruptions due to restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict between the United States and Iran.

State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)in a stock exchange filing Thursday said its board of directors had "accorded an in-principle approval for the development of 1.75 MMT capacity strategic petroleum reserves as a project of national importance" in the southern Mangalore region.

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri told AFP last week that India was aggressively pursuing new avenues of domestic production.

"We are putting fiscal resources into oil and gas exploration in a very big way -- with a $10 billion programme," he said.

India is a modest producer in global terms.�"AFP