Sujay Mehdudia NEW DELHI: Raghaw Sharan Pandey, who took over as the new Petroleum Secretary on Friday, has issued strict directions to the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) not to put any restrictions on "release and registration' of new LPG connections and make provisions for the purchase of 15 lakh new LPG cylinders to overcome any shortage in future. Mr. Pandey, who took over from the outgoing Secretary, M.S. Srinivasan, said his prime task would be to ensure that there was no shortage of petro products, but at the same time protect the interests of the OMCs in view of the unprecedented movement in the crude oil prices. Soon after taking over, Mr. Pandey met Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora in the morning and discussed the various issues facing the Ministry. Mr. Deora described Mr. Pandey as a very fine and good officer who knew his job well. Mr. Pandey, a 1972-batch IAS officer from Nagaland cadre, immediately summoned a meeting of senior officials of the OMCs, including Indian Oil Corporation CMD Sarthak Behuria. Only two days ago, Mr. Behuria had stated that restrictions had been placed on the release of new LPG cylinders and the waiting list had climbed to almost two lakh in the last two months. Mr. Pandey directed IOC and other OMCs to take immediate steps to remove all restrictions placed on the release or registration of new LPG connections. He directed Mr. Behuria to ensure that consumers faced no difficulty in booking LPG connections in any part of the country and promised to address the concerns of OMCs regarding liquidity crunch on a priority basis. The Petroleum Secretary also directed the IOC to purchase 10 lakh new cylinders and the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited 5 lakh cylinders to overcome shortages. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited stated that it had adequate stocks to deal with exigencies.