The oil ministry has asked refiners to defer planned maintenance of refineries to ensure smooth supply of oil products if there is a US-led invasion of Iraq, a government official said on Thursday.
"We have told them to postpone planned shutdowns of refineries at least till the end of March. We will review the situation again after that," a senior oil ministry official told Reuters.
He said refiners could shut down their units when India's oil product demand dips in the summer months from May to September.
India has stocked refined products to meet 45 days domestic demand and kept enough crude oil to keep refineries running for a month if there is a supply disruption in the Middle East, which accounts for two-thirds of India's crude imports.
Oil Minister Ram Naik told parliament on Thursday that the government had a contingency plan to buy crude from new sources if Middle East supplies dry up. "If there is a war, we have contingency plans... but if we declare where we are going to get the crude oil from, the supplies may not be available," he said.
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