‘Ships linked to adversaries won’t be granted passage through waterway’
Tehran/New Delhi: Iran allowed India and a number of other ‘friendly nations’, including China and Russia, to use the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said.
Global oil and gas prices have surged after Iran virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas.
West Asia has been a major source of India’s energy procurement.
“We have permitted certain countries that we consider friendly to pass through (Strait of Hormuz). We allowed China, Russia, India, Iraq, and Pakistan to transit,” Araghchi said, according to Iranian State TV.
At the same time, the Iranian Foreign Minister made it clear that ships linked to Iran’s adversaries will not be allowed to transit through the strategic waterway.
“We are in a state of war. The region is a war zone, and there is no reason to allow the ships of our enemies and their allies to pass through. But it remains open to others,” he said.
Referring to reported efforts by some third countries to act as intermediaries towards ending the conflict, he said: “No negotiations with the US are underway, he said elsewhere in the interview, adding that many foreign ministers from the region have contacted Tehran, but Iran’s position has remained principled and firm,” MEHR News Agency reported.
“International guarantees are not 100 per cent reliable,” he added.
“Through the inherent guarantee that we created ourselves, no one will dare again to go to war with the Iranian people,” he said.
There have been growing global concerns over disruptions in commercial shipping through the strait, with US President Donald Trump warning Iran of severe consequences if it does not fully reopen the waterway.
In the last couple of weeks, India has made diplomatic efforts focused on ending the conflict in West Asia as soon as possible and ensuring the unimpeded flow of energy through the strait.
New Delhi thinks there could be serious ramifications for fuel and fertiliser security for many countries, including India, if the blockade of the shipping lane continues.
‘India has 60 days of oil stock, one month of LPG supply’
New Delhi: India has about 60 days of oil stock cover and has arranged one full month of LPG supply, the government said on Thursday, adding that there is no shortage of petrol, diesel, or LPG, calling reports of shortages as a “deliberate misinformation campaign” aimed at triggering panic buying.
Amid reports of panic buying and long queues at petrol pumps and LPG distributors, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, for the first time since the war in West Asia broke out, released stock details of crude oil, fuels and LPG as it rushed to calm nerves.
Parallely, state-owned oil marketing companies also said there is no shortage of petrol, diesel or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and supplies remain stable.
In a statement, the ministry said all petrol pumps across the country are adequately stocked and operating normally, with no rationing of petrol or diesel.
With some petrol pumps, especially in smaller towns, finding difficulty in lifting fuel after oil companies put them on cash-and-carry, the ministry said steps have been taken to increase credit to petrol pumps to over three days from earlier allowed one day in order to ensure that there is no shortage of petrol and diesel at any pump due to working capital issues of pump owners.
“There is no shortage of petrol, diesel, or LPG anywhere in the country,” it said, emphasising that the country’s petroleum and LPG supply situation is “fully secure and under control.”
Stating that all retail fuel outlets have enough supplies, the ministry called upon citizens not to be “misled by a deliberately mischievous, coordinated campaign of misinformation that is being carried out to spread unjustified panic.”
While the Iran war has disrupted the supply of half of the crude oil (raw material used to make fuels like petrol and diesel), the country has secured enough crude supplies from elsewhere for the next 60 days. Also, fuel tanks are at optimum levels and can help cover two months of requirements.
On LPG, whose supply has been scarce because of the shutting down of Strait of Hormuz – the conduit which shipped a bulk of Indian supplies, the ministry said 800,000 tonnes of LPG cargoes have been secured and one full month of supply is firmly arranged.
Separately, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) put out posts to say their petrol pumps were operating normally and there was no shortage of any fuels.
India, the world’s fourth-largest refiner and fifth-largest exporter of petroleum products, has structurally assured domestic fuel availability and continues to supply refined fuels to over 150 countries, the ministry statement said.
“Every Indian refinery (which turns crude oil into fuels like petrol and diesel) is running at over 100 per cent utilisation,” it said. “Crude oil supplies for the next 60 days have already been tied up by Indian oil companies. There is no supply gap..
India, it said, has 74 days of total crude oil and fuel stocking capacity.
“Actual stock cover is around 60 days right now (including crude stocks, products stocks and the dedicated strategic storage in caverns) even as we are on the 27th day of the Middle East crisis.”
“Nearly two months of steady supply is available for every Indian citizen regardless of what happens globally.”
