At present, crude oil, which is the raw material for producing fuels like petrol and diesel, is not allowed to be exported except through the state-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC).
In an order, the ministry said the condition of export being allowed only through IOC will continue, but “AMI (Adnoc Marketing International (India) RSC Limited India) is exempted from STE conditions and is allowed to re-export crude oil from their commercial stockpile at Mangalore strategic petroleum reserve, at their own cost”.
India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, imports over 85 per cent of its oil needs and has built strategic storages at three locations to store up to 5.33 million tonnes of oil as insurance against any supply disruption.
The storage at Visakhapatnam (1.33 million tonnes) in Andhra Pradesh, Mangalore (1.5 million tonnes), and Padur (2.5 million tonnes) in Karnataka can meet about 9 days of national demand.