Lessening Dependence on Middle-East Countries for Crude Oil

The Minister of State (I/C) in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas Shri Dharmendra Pradhan informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply today that Public Sector Oil Companies have made significant efforts to diversify their crude oil supply sources from other regions as well.  India’s crude oil import basket is continuously expanding over last few years, with increased imports from South American and African countries.  The region-wise crude oil import details are as under during 2011-12 to 2013-14: Quantity in MMT Percentage Share Region 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 (P*) 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 (P) Middle East 118.6 115.4 115.9 69.1 62.4 61.2 Africa 31.1 29.6 30.4 18.1 16.0 16.1 Asia 3.4 3.3 3.4 2.0 1.8 1.8 South America 14.5 29.8 31.7 8.5 16.1 16.8 Eurasia 1.0 2.4 2.1 0.6 1.3 1.1 N. America 2.3 4.1 5.2 1.3 2.2 2.7 Europe 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1 Australia 0.7 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.2 Total 171.7 184.8 189.2 100.0 100.0 100.0 *Provisional data Public Sector Oil Companies have term contracts for supply of crude oil for its own and associate refineries, with various National Oil Companies (NOCs) of the Middle East.  Supplies of crude oil from Middle East sources have by and large been smooth.