The Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, on Monday said there would be no disruption to supplies of petroleum and petro products due to Iran sanctions.
“I would assure you that there would be no problem for oil and oil related products. We are trying to resolve the oil payment problem and secure proper supplies,” he said answering media queries at Nagaram village, about 45 km from here.
After launching the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) health care project of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Mr Reddy said “ efforts are on to sort out issues. However, other sources have been lined up even if there is a problem. The oil marketing companies will ensure that there is no supply constraint. I am absolutely confident of tackling the situation.”
While the oil companies do an aggregate business of over Rs 11,00,000 crore, their losses have gone up to Rs 1,45,000 crore, with diesel alone contributing to over Rs 75,000 to 80,000 crore. The consumption of diesel has gone up over the years. Any effort to increase price would have a cascading impact. Therefore, any increase has to be carefully thought out, he said.
“Oil marketing companies are closely monitoring the situation and would take an appropriate decision. Even if we are to consider any hike due to oil price fluctuations in the global market place, for diesel, it cannot be at one go,” he said.
Asked about the BP-RIL development plan, Mr Reddy said their plan has been approved. With BP acquiring stake in RIL, it is for them to take a call on how they go about implementing the development plan.
On the Vedanta-Cairn Energy deal, the Union Minister said that it was merely a formality and needs to be approved by the Cabinet.