Govt says adequate fuel stocks available amid panic buying in several states

The government said India has adequate petrol, diesel and LPG stocks despite panic buying in some states. Officials attributed temporary dryouts at fuel stations to sudden demand spikes, agricultural consumption and consumers shifting from costlier private retailers to PSU-operated pumps

New Delhi: The government is monitoring fuel supplies across the country on a daily basis and taking immediate corrective steps to ensure adequate stocks are available, a senior official said on Monday, citing panic buying at petrol pumps in parts of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said the country has enough stocks of petrol, diesel and domestic cooking gas LPG and dryouts at a few pumps was a result of a 20-30 per surge in demand due to a combination of factors, such as increased consumption in agriculture and bulk users tapping petrol pumps for their needs because of the price difference.

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Also, private pumps selling petrol and diesel at rates that are at least Rs 5 and Rs 3 per litre higher than PSUs led to a shift to retail outlets of oil marketing companies, resulting in dryouts in some parts.
Sharma said oil marketing companies were closely tracking retail outlets and replenishing stocks to prevent any fuel dry-outs as demand surged in some regions.

“All retail outlets are being closely monitored at the level of oil marketing companies and the petroleum ministry…supply situation is being closely monitored to immediately address any intermittent dryouts and to replenish stocks of petrol and diesel at all retail outlets,” she said.

“The country has a sufficient supply of LPG, petrol and diesel.” She urged consumers to avoid panic buying, conserve fuel and shift to alternatives, such as piped natural gas and induction cookers, wherever possible.

Explaining the situation, she said petrol pumps normally hold stocks to meet 2-3 days of requirement. And when there is a sudden growth of 20-30 per cent, there could be some difficulty due to last-mile constraints in immediately moving stocks. “It isn’t that depots and terminals do not have sufficient stocks, but last-mile constraints lead to some difficulty,” she said.

“To manage such a situation, monitoring of the retail network is being done daily. And it is being endeavoured that if there is any place needing replenishment of stocks, it is done at the earliest.” Also, state governments’ help is being sought to check hoarding and mismanagement. She said the government had conducted a video conference with officials from all states and union territories, asking them to monitor local supply situations and prevent hoarding or mismanagement.

Despite disruptions to global energy flows from the West Asia conflict, Sharma said India had sufficient stocks of petrol, diesel and LPG, and that all efforts were being made to ensure uninterrupted fuel supplies nationwide. The official said the crisis had affected about 40 per cent of India’s crude oil imports, 90 per cent of LPG imports and 65 per cent of natural gas imports.

While crude oil (raw material for making fuels like petrol and diesel) is being sourced from alternative sources, LPG production at refineries has been ramped up to around 50,000 tonnes per day to support domestic availability. The ministry said the panic buying was driven partly by higher agricultural demand, bulk purchases, and consumers shifting from private fuel retailers to state-run outlets due to price differences.