NEW DELHI: Petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday said the West Asia crisis was not over and had the potential to worsen.The minister, however, added that despite the current situation, ample availability of crude oil globally provides some relief. “The crisis is certainly not over. In fact, the crisis is not only ongoing, but it has the potential of actually exacerbating. In other words, the crisis could get more serious,” Puri said at PAFI’s 13th Annual Forum.“The total quantum of crude available in the world today is around 102 million barrels a day, whereas our requirement is only about 94-95 mbd. So there is no shortage per se of crude,” Puri said.The bigger concern, Puri said, was a simultaneous disruption of the Strait of Hormuz and other key energy routes such as the Red Sea, which could severely choke global energy supplies despite the availability of alternative routes.Highlighting that India has been expanding its refining capacity, which is expected to reach 310-320 million tonnes per annum by 2030, up from its current level of about 267 million tonnes, Puri said the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have shown interest in investing in India’s refining sector.“Nobody wants to come and invest in a refinery unless they can also get a slice of your growing downstream market,” the minister said, adding that building a refinery costs about Rs 78,000-80,000 crore.“So yeah, they’re very keen on these investments”, he said.
