Bengaluru, 05 April(HS): Thanks to the ongoing war between the United States, Israel against Iran and the after-effects in the way of transporting crude oil and natural gases, a panic-like situation has been prevailing in parts of the country. This has been the predicament, despite government authorities assuring the countrymen from time to time that there are sufficient stocks and no need to raise an alarm!

Hotels declare closure: No sooner did reports of the war's impact hit the headlines than they sparked a variety of repercussions on the ground. The hoteliers were the first ones to make the hullabaloo by issuing statements on the shortage of commercial LPG cylinders, while many other hotel owners were in an overspeed mood to raise prices of eatables and beverages. Some big hotels even went to the extent of declaring a closure, citing an inadequate supply of commercial gas cylinders.

Hoarding of petrol and diesel: Strangely, the paucity of LPG, CNG gases, domestic and commercial LPG cylinders was felt only at a handful of places and not across the state. But, such a ground situation was no hindrance for panic mongers, leading to unnecessary buying of petrol and diesel in all possible containers, including tins, cans and barrel drums! Thanks to such unwarranted panic buying, now there has literally been a shortage of CNG, leading to multiple woes, more so with the auto rickshaws.

Accidents, deaths...: And the adverse result of such an ugly tendency also paved the way for an uncalled death toll. One woman succumbed in a fire mishap at a house in Tadakod village in Dharwad district, wherein they had stored five litres of petrol. Pranav S Khodanpur, a Dharwad-based software engineer and owner of the zynanity.com start-up company, explains reasons for such a piquant situation: Earlier, two-wheeler owners of Dharwad, by and large, had the regular practice of filling petrol for Rs 50/100. However, the trend has changed now with almost all of them resorting to full tank filling, while the storage capacity of all petroleum bunks remains unchanged

India imports roughly 80% Crude Oil required for domestic consumption: Ravindra J Joshi retired as DGM ( MS, L&D) at Mathura Refinery, Indian Oil Corporation Limited(IOCL), after serving the IOCL for 35 years. Ravindra J Joshi has worked in Baroda, Haldia, Panipat & Mathura Refineries & RHQ New Delhi of IOCL in various Depts like Project, Engineering, Maintenance, Contracts, Management Services, Learning & Development. In an interaction, Ravindra J Joshi dwells in detail on the storage capacities of fuel products, in general, apart from sharing his insights on the current situation: India imports roughly 80% Crude Oil required for domestic consumption. Needless to say, we pay in dollars in the international market to purchase crude oil. It's causing a huge burden on the government exchequer, especially with every dollar rise in crude price. After long R&D efforts to reduce the crude import bill, it's been proven that it's safe to mix 20% ethanol ( extracted from molasses) with petrol & a similar bio extract for diesel, which is being implemented in phases...

ONGC & OIL India are major indian exploration companies for crude oil in India. Crude oil is refined in about 23 refineries spread across India, owned mostly by PSUs / JVs & a few private Companies like Reliance, Nayara (formerly Essar), Mittal Energy, etc. For Refineries which run on a 24/7 basis around the year, Crude is the main input raw material. Crude is mainly supplied to refineries through pipeline networks & is stored in three to four huge MCO Tanks ( Mandatory Crude Oil Tanks) in each refinery, which will meet about a month's requirement in case of supply disruptions in crude oil. In case of prolong delay in supply of crude oil, Refineries have to be shut down informs Ravindra J Joshi.

A wide range of petroleum products: He also explains, Refineries not only produce a wide range of petroleum products ( from bitumen to LPG ) but also produce naptha, base oils & other input raw materials required for Lube plants, petrochemicals, fertilisers & many chemical industries. Petroleum products are mostly transported through pipelines & railway network across India. For short distances & to meet logistics requirements, road transport is also utilised.

Safety is accorded top priority in the Petroleum Industries: Ravindra J Joshi also mentions, There is a vast network of Depots, terminals, bottling plants, Bitumen plants, etc., across India set up by OMCs (Oil Marketing Companies) for intermediate storage & distribution of petroleum products. Of late, India is also exporting petroleum products to many neighbouring countries for economical & other reasons.

Handling & Storage of petroleum products : Since petroleum products are highly inflammable, safety is accorded top most priority in their handling & storage. PESO Nagpur (apart from OISD, PNGRB, DGH, CPCB/ SPCB) is the central regulatory body for implementing/monitoring safety aspects, which includes handling & storage guidelines for crude & petroleum products. As per the mandatory safety requirements laid down by PESO, storage of more than 30 litres of petrol or more than 1,000 litres of diesel or more than 100kg of LPG without a valid license & adhering to necessary storage guidelines is strictly prohibited & calls for stringent punishment. Hence, hoarding of petroleum products is a very risky affair, unlike other commodities, warns Ravindra J Joshi.

Setting up infrastructure like tanks, pumps, etc.: He also asserted, For retail customers, Petrol, diesel & Autogas / LPG are distributed through Retail Outlets (popularly known as petrol bunks) & Domestic / Commercial LPG cylinders thro LPG Distributor's network. For bulk consumers like Railways, Airlines, Industries, Mega Transport Companies, etc., OMCs ( Oil Marketing Companies) enter into long-term contracts & will set up infrastructure like tanks, pumps, pipings etc. (following all PESO guidelines) with a valid license at a suitable location convenient to the consumers

Automation of Depots, Terminals, Bottling plants etc : It's worth noting that in line with Digital India initiatives, OMCs have also automated all plants up to customer touch points like retail outlets, Gas distributors networks, etc. Hence, real-time data is available at every state HQ level with respect to stock positions, rate of consumption, etc. for various products, so that timely replenishment of stock can be taken up, recalls Ravindra J Joshi.

Every drop of oil counts & saves our National foreign exchange: Last but not least, we have PCRA (Petroleum Conservation Research Association) spread across India, which is set up jointly by three OMCs (viz., IOCL, BPCL & HPCL). They advise & guide retailers & consumer industries on how to optimise use of petroleum products & minimise their wastage. Every drop of oil counts & saves our National foreign exchange, signs off Ravindra J Joshi.

Hindusthan Samachar / Manohar Yadavatti