Making hay while the sun shines: India saves millions of dollars by buying on the cheap
India saved more than 685 million US dollars by going on an accelerated buying spree during April-May period, while cashing in on the record-low oil price.
Accoring to petroleum minister of India, the country managed to store the crude oil in underground, strategic oil storage facillities.
With that, says the minister, India is in a position to deal with any contingency.
India could not believe its luck when they saw the opportunity, because in January at the beginning of the year, India used to buy the same at $60 per barrel. India boosted its strategic oil reserves by paying just $19 per barrel, while acquiring a record 16.7 million barrels.
With a record stock of this nature, it can manage the demand in the coming months comfortably and in the event of a steep price hike, it can even make a hefty profit by disposing of some of the reserves.
This has been the creative thinking pattern of the big Three, the US, China and India, the biggest oil consumers in the world, when they saw the opportunity to take advantage of the woes of the oil world.
The expansion of oil reserves by the big consumers causes more strain on the oil producers, as the latter cannot inflate the prices at will in the coming months to cover the losses due to the pandemic.