India will soon join an elite club of nations, comprising the US, Japan and China, that have their own strategic crude oil reserves to meet supply disruptions. By mid-2012, the first crude oil storage, built in underground rock caverns, will be ready at Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Of the total 5.33 MT crude oil storages being planned, the Vizag cavern will store 1.33 MT of crude oil, while caverns at Padur (near Udupi) and Mangalore will store the rest. The facilities, which can meet India’s oil needs for 14 days, will be managed by Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves, a special purpose vehicle of the oil ministry.