Latest News | Oil Cos Divert 965 Tonnes of Oxygen for Medical Emergency

New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI) Oil companies are diverting 965 tonnes of oxygen for medical emergencies in the country following a surge in COVID-19 infection, the petroleum ministry said on Sunday.

In a series of tweets, it said PSUs "are making all out efforts to respond to the nation's call in strengthening public healthcare infrastructure and ironing out blind spots in supply chains."

"The oil sector is currently diverting 965 tonnes of liquid medical oxygen daily," it said. "The refineries and plants have maximised the production of Liquid Medical Oxygen by reducing their own demand of oxygen for industrial use."

Also, oil PSUs are also in the process of setting up Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Medical Oxygen Generation Plants at 93 locations across the country to facilitate captive oxygen generation facilities at hospitals to strengthen availability and supply of medical-grade oxygen, it said.

BPCL's Bina refinery is supplying 10,000 tonnes per day of gaseous oxygen of 90 per cent purity and 4 lakh litres of drinking water per day at the 1,000-bed temporary Covid19 hospital being built by the MP government near the refinery.

"IOC has been tasked with removing bottlenecks in the logistics, transport & supply of medical oxygen. IOCL is procuring ISO cryogenic containers for transport of LMO. 9 tankers have been contracted, software & app to manage the movement is under progress for roll-out," it said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)