Riyadh: India, Asia’s third-largest oil consumer, may build strategic reserves for oil and liquefied petroleum gas to protect itself from supply disruptions and may import crude from Algeria to fill the tanks.

The nation is considering the plan to store fuel, Petroleum Minister Murli Deora said at the 2nd Asian Energy Ministerial Roundtable Meeting here on 2 May.

India, Asia’s fourth-largest economy, imports nearly 70% of its crude oil requirement. The country has identified two port cities on the east and west coasts to build three tanks to store crude oil stocks. The strategy of building reserves emulates programmes in the US, Japan and China.

India is open to a plan similar to Saudi Arabia operating oil storage facilities on Japan’s Okinawa island, Deora told reporters.

Under the plan, state-run Saudi Aramco would operate the stockpile facilities and oil would be supplied to Japan in times of emergency, Japan’s Nikkei newspaper said 29 April.

India is also in talks with Middle Eastern countries about increasing investment in building refineries in the nation, Deora said. It is in talks with Iraq about such a plan, he said.