All eyes on oil stockpile as war throws a spanner in supply chain

oil and petro-products to deal with short-term disruptions. The Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas has formed a 24×7 control room to continuously monitor the supply and stock position across the country.State-run oil marketing companies (OMCs)—Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum Corp.

Ltd (BPCL)—account for around 78% of India’s retail fuel market.Half of India's crude oil cargoes come from the Persian Gulf, crossing the Strait of Hormuz, making its closure a matter of deep concern. India imports around 90% of its crude oil requirements. Officials said the recent engagements with Canada on the energy front will also help meet the demand for cooking gas.

Supplies from the US began in January."We are comfortably positioned to navigate the scenario with stocks for 25 days of crude and 25 days of (petroleum) products. OMCS are also looking at alternate sources for all energy products," one of the two people said, adding supplies from Russia have not halted, although they have declined.Oil prices have surged nearly 15% in the past two trading sessions. At the time of writing, the April contract of Brent crude on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) was trading at $82.90 per barrel, higher by 6.91% from its previous close.

Similarly, the April contract of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) on the NYMEX rose 6.46% to $75.83 a barrel. The surge carries significance for India, a net importer. An increase of $1 per barrel of oil for an entire year boosts its import bill by around ₹16,000 crore.While China and India, Asia's top energy consumers, source around half of their crude imports from West Asia, India has relatively less oil in storage, an energy analyst told Reuters."China has at least