New Delhi, June 15 -- The Petroleum Ministry has assured there is sufficient supply of petrol, diesel, LPG and natural gas in the country and urged citizens and industry to use energy responsibly.

Joint Secretary Sujata Sharma, speaking at an Inter-Ministerial press briefing, appealed for energy conservation and asked bulk industrial and commercial consumers to purchase diesel from their consumer pumps to reduce pressure on retail outlets.

The appeal comes as the government put a temporary order in place to ease congestion at retail pumps. Sharma explained that the supply of petrol, diesel and LPG remains stable and refineries are operating at optimum capacity, with crude inventories maintained. The strain stems from a shift in offtake:...