IOC, L&T, others eye crude reserve

Multiple energy and engineering giants, including IndianOil Corp. (IOC), Trafigura, Vitol, and Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), have shown interest in developing a strategic crude reserve at Chandikhol, Odisha, said two people in the know.

- Rituraj Baruah

Afcons Infrastructure, Bharat Petroleum Corp. (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corp.

(HPCL) and Hindustan-Mittal Energy Ltd (HEML) have also shown initial interest in building the storage with 4 million tonnes of capacity, the people said on the condition of anonymity. The reserve would require around $1 billion to develop and an additional $2 billion to fill it, they said.

"After Padur (reserve in Karnataka), there is a lot of interest in Chandikhol," said the first of the two people quoted above.

The request for proposal (RFP) is expected to be released once the land is allotted by the state government, one of the two people quoted above said.

Strategic petroleum reserves (SPRS) are built underground in rock and salt caverns, often near refineries and ports. While India has been stocking up oil ever since the first SPR opened in Visakhapatnam a decade ago, the latest push comes after a 10-day conflict in West Asia.