Saudi Arabia assures India of no oil supply shortage: Dharmendra Pradhan
NEW DELHI: India, the world's third-largest oil consumer, will not face any supply disruption after a reduction in production at its No. 2 supplier Saudi Arabia, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Monday.
“Following the attacks on the oil stabilization centres of @Saudi_aramco, top executives of Aramco have been contacted,” he tweeted. “We have reviewed our overall crude oil supplies for the month of September with our OMCS. We are confident there would be no supply disruption to India. We are closely monitoring the evolving situation.”
OMCS are oil marketing companies.
A massive drone strike on the world's largest crude-processing facility operated by Saudi Arabia's Aramco has driven oil prices to their highest level in nearly four months.
The attack has knocked out over half of Saudi Arabia's production as it cut 5.7 million barrels per day or over 5 per cent of the world's supply.
India imports 83 per cent of its oil needs. Saudi Arabia is its second-biggest supplier after Iraq. It sold 40.33 million tonnes of crude oil to India in 2018-19 fiscal, when the country had imported 207.3 million tonnes of oil.
Oil prices surged the most on record on Monday, with Brent crude rising by as much as 19.5 per cent to USD 71.95 per barrel - the biggest gain in dollar terms since futures started trading in 1988.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures climbed 15.5 per cent to USD 63.34, the biggest intra-day percentage gain since June 1998.
Earlier on Monday, Oil Ministry in a statement said: “Yesterday (September 15), Saudi Aramco officials informed the Indian refiners that there would be no shortage of supplies to them. Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is closely monitoring the situation in consultation with Indian refiners and Saudi Aramco.”
Officials at state-owned oil refiners said Saudi Aramco has informed that there would not be any major disruption but has sought flexibility for switching to different grades for continuing supplies.