No logistical challenges if lower ethanol blend is introduced: Bharat Petroleum chief

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Oil marketing companies may not face any logistical challenges if the erstwhile E10 variant of petrol, that is, motor spirit with 10% ethanol blend, is to be parallelly accommodated with the E20 variant, Sanjay Khanna, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum, told reporters at a media briefing following the annual general meeting of shareholders.

“It would only be a matter of changing from E20 to E10 if suppose it has to be done. As a company, we do not see any challenge, for that matter, none of the oil companies would see a challenge,” said Mr. Khanna in response to query.

Debates about the parallel existence of a petrol variant with lower ethanol blend, that is, at 10%, gathered steam recently after Chief Economic Advisor V. Anantha Nageswaran wrote in a national daily about exploring the possibility of a re-introduction of the lower blend for older fleet of vehicles.

In a late post on Thursday, Bharat Petroleum clarified there was no proposal to replace the existing 20% ethanol blended petrol with the lower 10% variant. The company stated that reports of E10 being deliberated as an alternate option were incorrect.

Separately, Vetsa Ramkrishna Gupta, Director (Finance), BPCL, told reporters that the Bharat Petroleum had secured crude requirements until September and was working to secure their requirements for October, which was about “half completed.”

Mr. Khanna stated that a ban on Russian volumes could create pressure amidst the prevailing situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

On August 8, the U.S. Senate cleared a legislation that allows Washington to levy up to 100% tariffs on India for importing Russian oil.

“Making a ban on that quantity [that is, Russian oil] with the Strait of Hormuz under pressure, definitely would be a huge challenge for oil companies to get the crude and cater to the national demand,” he stated.

The Chairman informed that Russian oil formed about 35-40% of Indian OMCs’ oil basket.

Addressing a query about supplies, Mr. Gupta informed that Bharat Petroleum had secured crude requirements for September and was “about 50-55%” complete for October.

He added, “Maybe by next week, we would have safeguarded our crude requirements [entirely] for October. For November, we would have to wait for some more time for the window to open.”

Mr. Gupta also informed that the Mumbai-headquartered refiner was securing about 60% of its requirements through spot purchases.

He added that securing supplies crude supplies was not an issue. However, the effective landing price and premiums vary every month amidst the evolving geopolitical situation.