Govt invites bids for first commercial crude oil storage

India, the world’s third biggest oil consumer and importer, plans to build its first commercial crude oil strategic storage as part of efforts to shore up stockpiles as insurance against any supply disruption.

Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), a special purpose vehicle created by the government for building and operating strategic petroleum reserves in the country, has invited bids for constructing 2.5 million tonnes of underground storage at Padur in Karnataka, according to the tender document.

ISPRL had in the first phase built a strategic petroleum reserve in underground unlined rock caverns for storage of 5.33 million tonnes of crude oil at three locations Visakhapatnam (1.33 million tonnes) in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore (1.5 million tonnes) and Padur (2.5 million tonnes) in Karnataka.

Under Phase-II, it intends to build a commercial cum strategic petroleum reserve in underground unlined rock caverns along with associated above ground facilities, including dedicated SPM and associated pipelines (offshore and onshore) for storage of 2.5 million tonnes of crude oil at Padur-II at a cost of Rs 5,514 crore.