Context:
Government-owned engineering consultancy firm Engineers India (EIL) studying the prospects and feasibility of salt cavern-based strategic oil reserves in Rajasthan to increase India’s strategic oil storage capacity.
Relevance:
GS I: Geography
Dimensions of the Article:
- Current Strategic Oil Storage Facilities
- Salt Cavern-Based Reserves
- Potential in India for Storing Crude and Petroleum Products
- Strategic Petroleum Reserves Program: Progress So Far
Current Strategic Oil Storage Facilities
- Existing strategic oil storage facilities in India:
- Mangaluru and Padur in Karnataka
- Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh
- These facilities are made up of excavated rock caverns
Importance of Strategic Crude Oil Reserves
- Countries build strategic crude oil reserves to mitigate major supply disruptions in the global supply chain
- India, as the world’s third-largest consumer of crude, depends on imports for over 85% of its requirement
- Strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) ensure energy security and availability during global supply shocks and emergencies
India’s Current SPR Capacity
- India’s SPR capacity: 5.33 million tonnes, approximately 39 million barrels of crude
- Can meet around 9.5 days of demand
- Expansion plans: Cumulative 6.5 million tonnes at two locations:
- Chandikhol in Odisha (4 million tonnes)
- Padur (2.5 million tonnes)
Salt Cavern-Based Reserves
Development Process
- Salt caverns: Developed through solution mining by pumping water into geological formations with large salt deposits to dissolve the salt
- Rock caverns: Developed through excavation
Simplicity, Speed, and Cost
- Salt caverns: Process of solution mining is simpler, faster, and less cost-intensive compared to excavated rock caverns
Sealing and Operational Efficiency
- Salt cavern-based facilities: Naturally well-sealed and engineered for rapid injection and extraction of oil
- More attractive option for oil storage compared to other geological formations (MIT report)
Impermeable Barrier and Surface Operation
- Salt caverns: The salt lining inside the caverns has extremely low oil absorbency, creating a natural impermeable barrier against hydrocarbons
- Salt cavern-based storages can be created and operated almost entirely from the surface, unlike rock caverns
Example: US Strategic Petroleum Reserve
- Entire Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) program in the United States based on salt cavern-based storage facilities
- US Strategic Petroleum Reserve consists of four sites with deep underground storage caverns created in salt domes along the Gulf of Mexico coast in Texas and Louisiana
- Cumulative capacity of the US strategic oil reserves: approximately 727 million barrels
Multiple Uses of Salt Caverns
- Salt caverns used to store liquid fuels, natural gas, compressed air, and hydrogen in various parts of the world
Potential in India for Storing Crude and Petroleum Products
- Rajasthan, with ample salt formations, considered conducive for salt cavern-based strategic storage facilities
- Previous plans to build a strategic oil reserve in Bikaner did not materialize
- EIL’s partnership with DEEP.KBB GmbH, a German company specializing in cavern storage and solution mining technology, bridges the technical know-how gap
- Refinery in Barmer and existing crude pipelines in Rajasthan provide infrastructure for building strategic oil reserves
- Specific site identification and project cost estimation still premature
Strategic Petroleum Reserves Program: Progress So Far
- India’s strategic oil reserves aim to build emergency stockpiles similar to those of the US and Western allies after the 1970s oil crisis
- Three existing rock cavern-based facilities built during the first phase
- Crude oil released from reserves by an empowered committee during supply disruptions
- International Energy Agency (IEA) recommends countries to hold emergency oil stockpiles providing 90 days of import protection
Storage Capacity in India
- Apart from SPR, oil marketing companies (OMCs) have storage facilities for crude oil and petroleum products for 64.5 days
- Combined storage can meet around 74 days of the country’s petroleum demand
Commercialization of Strategic Petroleum Reserves
- India plans to commercialize its strategic petroleum reserves
- Example: Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) stored 0.8 million tonnes of crude oil in the Mangaluru strategic reserve
- Second phase of the program aims to develop strategic reserves through public-private partnerships, reducing government spending and exploiting commercial potential
-Source: Indian Express
