New Delhi: Amid the escalating war in West Asia and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, India has offered relief to shipping and cargo owners, allowing stranded vessels to dock temporarily at its ports at reduced charges, including berthing fee, berth rental and storage charges, said Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
The Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), which operates India’s largest container port at Navi Mumbai, has provided a temporary transshipment warehouse for containers bound for West Asia and provided 100% discount on charter and dwell charges and around 80% discount on reefer plug-in charges for up to 15 days, for containers originating from JNPA.
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Dwell time refers to the time a container remains in a port terminal after it has arrived until it leaves.
He added that along with two liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tankers scheduled to arrive on March 16 and 17, a crude carrier carrying 80,800 metric tonnes (mt) of Murban oil from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is safely on its way to India.
Sticky Hormuz
Six other LPG tankers and four other crude cargoes – all bound for India and under the flag of India – are currently stranded on the western side of the Strait of Hormuz.
Further, in an effort to ease pressure on LPG supply in the country, municipal gas distribution networks have started offering incentives to consumers to switch from LPG to piped gas (PNG), including free gas. ₹500 from Indraprastha Gas Ltd, a joint venture of state oil marketing companies, to Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Petroleum Marketing and Refining, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
“At present, 22 Indian-flagged vessels with 611 seafarers remain in the western Persian Gulf region. The Directorate General of Shipping continues to monitor the situation in coordination with ship owners, RPSL agencies and Indian missions,” Sinha said.
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“Of the two Indian-flagged LPG ships that crossed the Strait of Hormuz on March 14 carrying about 92,712 mt of LPG, Shivalik is scheduled to dock at Mundra Port around 5:00 pm today with completed documentation to ensure priority discharge, while Nanda Devi is expected to arrive early tomorrow morning,” he added on developments in West Asia.
The vessel named Shivalik arrived at Mundra port on Monday evening.
He further said that major ports across the country closely monitor vessel movements and cargo operations and provide support to shipping lines and cargo stakeholders, including berthing concessions, berth rentals and storage fees.
Ports are coordinating with customs and other stakeholders to facilitate cargo operations, he added.
PNG displacement
Addressing the media on the country’s fuel stock situation, Sharma said domestic LPG production in the country has increased by 36% since the start of the war in February.
On the incentives offered to potential PNG consumers, Sharma said: “Several CGD companies are offering incentives to encourage PNG connectivity, including free gas worth ₹500 for domestic consumers by Indraprastha Gas Ltd. and GAIL Gas Ltd., waiver of registration fees ₹500 for PNG domestic consumers and a bond for commercial consumers from Mahanagar Gas Ltd. and waiver of bonds for all commercial connections by BPCL.”
The government is further expanding the CGD network and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has advised the City Gas Distribution (CGD) entities to speed up resource deployment, encourage utilization of existing connections and reduce delivery start-up times.
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Earlier, the petroleum ministry had suggested domestic and commercial LPG consumers near CGD networks to switch to PNG. According to the diesel ministry, there are about 60 million domestic LPG consumers who may switch to PNG in the short term.
On the fuel stock scenario, Sharma said refineries are operating at high capacity and maintaining adequate oil stocks. India remains self-sufficient in petrol and diesel production and no import of these fuels is required to meet domestic demand.
Oil prices fell on Monday after Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), said member countries could later release more oil into the market “as and if needed”. IEA member countries have already agreed to release a total of 400 million barrels from their reserves.
Benchmark Brent crude for April was trading at $102.07 a barrel, down about 1.% from the previous close. The April West Texas Intermediate contract on the NYMEX fell 3.43% to $95.32 a barrel.
