India will build its first strategic oil storage facility by January, Union Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said. India, which is 79 per cent dependent on imports to meet its crude oil needs, is building underground storages at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka to store about 5.33 million tonne of crude oil, the Minister said. This is enough to meet nation’s oil requirement for 13-14 days, Moily said.
The storage at Visakhapatnam is expected to be commissioned in January 2014. Visakhapatnam facility would have the capacity to store 1.33 million tonne of crude oil in underground rock caverns. Huge underground cavities, almost ten storey tall and approximately 3.3 km long are being built, the Minister added.
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