The Hindu : Front Page : Oil companies report backlog of LPG

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Sunday, Feb 10, 2008
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Oil companies report backlog of LPG

Sujay Mehdudia

Confident of tiding over situation: Deora

Indian Oil Corporation reports no backlog of supplies
Bottling plants to work for extended hours and on holidays

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding the assurance by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry that normality would be restored in the supply of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in the next few days, two of the three major Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) — Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) — have reported a backlog in LPG supplies in various States across the country.

According to official feedback received by the Ministry, HPCL and BPCL have reported a backlog in LPG supplies in Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal. The third LPG supplying company, Indian Oil Corporation, has reported that it did not have any backlog of supplies in the country.

Officials said the backlog in these States had arisen due to a reduction in the supply of bulk LPG of 10 Thousand Metric Tonnes (TMT) by Reliance Industries Limited during January. A delay had also been reported in the movement of bulk LPG by rail from Jamnagar to the northern region for various reasons. They also attributed the rise in demand to the extended winter in the northern States that has led to panic booking by the customers.

Sources said that in view of the shortage, the government had asked the OMCs to liquidate the backlog by operating the bottling plants on holidays and for extended hours. Increased bottling was also being done during the working days.

“Genuine demand”

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said there was no shortage of LPG in the country on an overall basis and supplies to the distributors were being made by the OMCs in accordance with the “genuine demand” of the customers. “We are confident of tiding over the situation during the next two weeks and everything will be back to normal,” he added.

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