Centre monitoring petroleum situation closely, retail prices won't be impacted: Sources

The Centre is closely tracking the crude oil situation in the country and will ensure that consumer retail prices are not impacted in case of any significant rise, official sources told Zee Business. This comes at a time when domestic retail prices of petrol and diesel have been kept unchanged for almost four years. The country's position is quite comfortable when it comes to crude oil supplies, they said.

The central government is in contact with all major global suppliers, including Russia, an official said.

Although crude supply from Russia has reduced, following the trade deal with the US, the supply is continuing without interruption, added the official.

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The sources also said that disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz could cause a shortfall of about 60 MMSCM of LNG for India. A high-level decision will be taken to address this, and reallocation will be done on a priority basis for industrial consumers, they noted.

'No shortage of oil in the world'

One of the officials said that there is no shortage of oil in the world at present and India has about 50 days worth of stock at the crude and refinery levels.

"We are in touch with nearly 40 crude suppliers globally... Our assessment is that crude prices may remain around $84-$85 per barrel during the ongoing (Iran-Israel-US) conflict. When the conflict ends, crude prices may fall back to around $74 per barrel or even lower," said the source.

Official sources also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is personally in touch with the top leadership of Qatar and Oman.

"India is also in contact with the International Energy Agency (IEA) and US authorities. The US has said that it can provide insurance cover to cargo companies supplying crude through IDFC," said one source.

"Despite the ongoing war, fertiliser supplies for the agriculture sector will not be affected. LNG supplies from the US have already started from January," the source added.

'Petroleum supplies under watch'

"The sources also said that talks are underway on new alternative sources and routes... Discussions are also being held with the IEA and the OPEC," said one source.

In the current situation, India is also learnt to be engaging with countries on the safe transit of ships, along with the purchase of LPG, LNG and crude oil.

India trims Russian oil supplies

Russia's share in India's oil imports fell under 20 per cent for the first time in almost four years, official data shows. This is in line with the country's strategy of cutting its crude oil imports from Russia while relying on more oil from Gulf countries and the US.

Israel-US-Iran conflict

Thursday was the sixth day of the US-Israeli war against Iran, with the situation escalating in Tehran. On Saturday, the US and Israel's joint strikes against Tehran left Iran's Supreme Leader killed.
Iran has threatened global shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and fighting is spreading across multiple fronts in the Middle East.