Amid indications that the ongoing internal conflict in Iraq is likely to escalate and which is likely to have a direct bearing on oil supplies to India, the Government on Thursday issued a statement assuring that fuel supplies will not be affected by the developments in that country.
The statement by the Government came as concerns regarding oil supplies have risen, considering the fact that Iraq is the second largest crude oil supplier to India.
Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan reviewed availability of petroleum products in the country in light of the week-long conflict that has threatened to push Iraq into civil war.
"While India imported about 13 per cent of its crude oil requirements from Iraq last year, in the current fiscal, public sector oil companies had planned to import 19.4 million tonnes (about 20 per cent of their requirement) of crude oil from Iraq," the official statement said.