Kerala floods: PSU oil companies assure fuel & LPG supplies to state

While stocks are available, suppliers are not able to operate pumps due to electrical challenges

Public sector oil marketing companies have come to the rescue of flood-ravaged Kerala, assuring the state that there would be no letup in fuel supplies, including LPG, to help it tide over possible shortages.

There are 2,020 fuel pumps in the state of which 280 have been totally submerged. As fuelling is an electrical operation, the oil companies are not in a position to operate the pumps and dispense fuel. Wherever feasible, water is being pumped out and the fuel pumps are being put into operation in close coordination with regulatory authorities, said P S Mony, state head, Indian Oil Corporation Limited and State Level Coordinator for the oil industry.

Mony asserted that the fuel supply position, including LPG supplies, is adequate in the state.

He said that the State is going through an unprecedented situation and that the oil companies are ensuring fuel is well stocked and sufficient supplies are available at retail outlets and LPG distributorships.

There are 610 LPG distributors in the state, of which 279 LPG distributorships have been totally submerged. Nevertheless, distributors and delivery personnel are wading through knee-deep and hip-deep water to deliver LPG cylinders on foot. In many places, cylinders are being roped together in water and loaded on to small vans to be taken to godowns.

As many as 528 fuel pumps and 120 LPG distributorships in the state are not reachable to deliver MS (petrol) or HSD (diesel), or Indane cylinders, as roads are inoperable due to landslides and flood. Moreover, trained drivers and truck personnel have neither reported to duty, nor are reachable over the phone, and it is feared that their residences have been flooded.

With safety being the main concern, oil companies are making all efforts to operate fuel pumps and LPG distributorships for delivery of Indane cylinders and to have trucks deliver fuel supplies, Mony said.

Oil companies are operating 24x7 control rooms to reach products across the state. There is nearly seven days' fuel stock of MS and HSD, SKO (Kerosene) and LPG (Bulk) in the state. ATF (Aviation turbine fuel) is being delivered to aerial sorties for survey and relief operations on the spot, in close coordination with defence and state machinery.

On a war footing, fuel stocks are being sourced from the neighbouring states of TamilNadu and Karnataka. Indian Oil has assured Kerala that comprehensive efforts are being taken across the oil industry to supply fuel across the state, with underlying concern and care for Safety and Security.