Question : Purchase of Oil at fixed price

(a) whether the Government has taken notice of the ever increasing prices of oil, if so, whether
any specific guidelines have been issued by the Union Government to States to control the same,
if so, the details thereof and the response of the States in this regard, State-wise;
(b) whether the Government has also acted as a pressure group over the international oil prices
and made a special appeal to the OPEC countries in this regard; and
(c) whether the Government is contemplating to procure oil at fixed price for a long term at
international level and to make further expansion of its storage in the country, if so, the details
thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
(SHRI RAMESWAR TELI)
(a): Prices of petrol and diesel have been made market-determined with effect from
26.06.2010 and 19.10.2014 respectively. Since then, the Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies
(OMCs) take appropriate decision on pricing of petrol and diesel in line with international
product prices and other market conditions. The OMCs have not only increased but also
decreased the prices of petrol and diesel in line with changes in international prices and rupee
dollar exchange rate.
(b): The Government, has been taking up the issue, bilaterally with crude oil producing
countries as well as with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for
affordable crude prices for consuming countries like India. Minister for Petroleum and Natural
Gas held meetings with Secretary General of OPEC and also engaged with heads of other
international energy fora to convey India''s serious concerns over crude oil price volatility, and
India''s strong preference on responsible pricing by producers and reasonable pricing for
consumer countries, which is mutually beneficial for consumers and producers.
(c): Indian oil companies continue to procure crude oil through term contracts as well as spot
market from different sources at a competitive price. Government of India, through its Special
Purpose Vehicle, Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve Limited (ISPRL) has established petroleum
storage facilities with total capacity of 5.33 Million Metric Tonnes (MMT), and all the facilities
are full now with crude oil. Under Phase II of the SPR Programme, Government has given
approval in July this year for establishing two additional SPR facilities with total storage
capacity of 6.5 MMT.
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