More crude expected to be available as producers ramp up supply: Oil Minister Puri

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri

Major oil consuming geographies are unlikely to face a fuel shortfall as oil producing countries are ramping up supplies, said Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on November 14.

Speaking on the sidelines of CII’s 12th PSE (Public Sector Enterprises) Summit, Puri said countries like the US, Brazil, and Canada plan to increase their crude supply. India, the third largest consumer of crude oil, is dependent on imports for over 85 percent of its needs.

“Major oil consuming countries are unlikely to face any shortfall of supplies as more and more oil is coming into the market. The Brazilians, who  produce about 3.3 million barrels a day, are supplying about 300 to 400,000  more barrels per day. If our assessment is correct, the Americans will also bring another million barrels of oil to the market, and the Canadians too. So I think there's going to be more oil available,” said Puri.

The oil minister added that crude oil prices, however, need to remain stable for countries such as India to make healthy economic decisions.

In 2024, global oil prices have been highly volatile breaching $90 per barrel in April due to geopolitical crises in the Middle East, before plummeting to around $72-75 a barrel currently due to demand concerns from China.

“We need  stability and predictability. Fluctuation  creates uncertainty in the market and that is not good for healthy economic decision making,” the minister said.

Puri added that stable crude prices depend on both the availability of crude oil and the global geopolitical situation.

“If there's trouble in one area or non-state actors are becoming active, then it will result in shippers having to take longer routes, which means an increase in freight rates, increase in insurance rates. But if there is more oil coming into the market and if the global situation also eases, then we can hope for a more predictable assessment,” said Puri.