India has decided to release 5 million barrels of crude oil from its Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) along with countries like the US, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. In an official statement, the petroleum ministry said the crude oil release would be in consultation with these countries, which are also major global energy consumers.
The decision comes amid reports that the US has urged these countries to release crude from their respective reserves. The move is being considered to bring down the global prices of the commodity. India has reserves of about 26.5 million barrels of oil.
“India firmly believes that the pricing of liquid hydrocarbons should be fair, responsible and determined by market forces. India has repeatedly expressed concern over oil-producing countries artificially adjusting the supply of oil below the level of demand, leading to rising prices and negative consequences,” the statement said.
Official sources said the government is continuously reviewing higher petroleum and diesel prices on the domestic front and to control their inflationary trend, excise duty on petrol and diesel will be hiked by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively on November 3, 2021. was deducted. , which became effective from 4 November.
Earlier on November 22, Reuters reported that Japanese and Indian officials are working with the United States and other major economies on ways to release national crude oil reserves to push prices down.
US President Joe Biden has asked China, India, South Korea and Japan to issue a coordinated oil stockpile as US gasoline prices rise and their approval ratings fall ahead of next year’s mid-term congressional elections.
The request came after the US government was unable to persuade OPEC+ to pump more oil, with major producers arguing the world was not short of crude, Reuters had reported. It was also reported that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had indicated his readiness to issue the stock over the weekend.
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