Indian Oil Corporation has confirmed it has secured sufficient crude oil reserves to cover almost two months amid ongoing disruptions around key shipping lanes, bolstering energy stability and shielding consumers from global price shocks.
Indian Oil Corp said on Friday it has enough crude oil secured to cover all of August and most of September, easing immediate supply concerns as Indian refiners continue to navigate disruption linked to conflict around key shipping lanes.
Chairman Arvinder Singh Sahney told reporters the company was “comfortably placed” for roughly 45 to 50 days of crude supply. The assurance came as state-owned refiners have worked to protect retail fuel prices even as the turmoil in Asia has complicated shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a route critical to global energy flows.
The comments came alongside quarterly results that showed Indian Oil narrowing its loss in the June quarter to ₹2,661 crore, while revenue rose 26% year on year to about ₹2.76 lakh crore. Sahney said operational performance helped limit the damage, pointing to refinery throughput of 19.165 million metric tonnes and capacity utilisation of 109.4%, both above year-earlier levels. The company also said it recorded its lowest-ever quarterly fuel and loss rate in the post-Bharat Stage VI period.
To keep supplies flowing, Indian Oil has turned to wider crude sourcing, including spot purchases from West Africa, South America and Venezuela. Trade sources told Business Recorder and The Economic Times that Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum together bought around 7 million to 8 million barrels of crude through recent tenders, including cargoes from Angola, Nigeria, Brazil and Kazakhstan, with deliveries due in late August and early September. Business Standard also reported in June that Indian refiners had built enough crude and liquefied petroleum gas inventory to last at least into August, partly by leaning on Abu Dhabi National Oil Co and other suppliers.
Sahney said the company would also try to diversify liquefied petroleum gas supplies as much as possible. Indian Oil has faced under-recoveries of ₹720 per cylinder in June and ₹503 in July as it absorbed higher costs to cushion consumers from the spike in global prices. Officials also said the company had drawn on the Reserve Bank of India’s
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