The government has adopted a multi-pronged strategy to provide momentum to exploration and production of crude oil in the country. The Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Mr R P N Singh said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha that the government is also setting up of the underground strategic storages in the form of rock cavern with a total capacity of 5.33 million metric tones.These storages will be located at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and at Mangalore and Padur in Karnataka. The storage projects are expected to be commissioned in a phased manner from April next year. The Minister said the feasibility study for about 12.5 million metric tones strategic oil reserves is in progress in Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha. Replying to the main question, the Minister said as per the International Energy Agency report in 2011 that proven reserves of oil increased to 1.47 trillion barrels at the end of 2010