India struggles with SPR expansion

Plans to boost capacity have seen little progress as the country lags behind other major oil consumers and importers

India’s slow progress in developing its strategic petroleum reserve (SPR) is a concern for the country’s energy ministry, which seems to have accelerated growth in everything else in the oil space. The government has plans to expand capacity, but India is still way behind its peers and shows little sign of achieving the energy security it craves any time soon. India operates three SPR facilities, all of which are in underground rock caverns on the eastern and western coasts, with a total designed capacity of 5.33mt. These can cumulatively provide c.9.5 days of oil requirements, as per the consumption levels seen in the 2019–20 financial year. 5.33mt – India’s SPR capacity   Indian st