The year 2004-05 marked IndianOil’s big-ticket entry into petrochemicals with the commissioning of the country’s largest Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB) plant at Gujarat Refinery in August 2004. It is also the largest grassroots single train Kerosene-to-LAB unit in the world, with an installed capacity of 1,20,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA). Currently, two grades of LAB – high molecular weight and low molecular weight – are being produced. The quality of the LAB produced here has found wide acceptance in the domestic and overseas markets.

Built at a cost of Rs. 1,248 crore and commissioned in a record 24 months’ time, the plant produces superior quality LAB for manufacturing environment-friendly biodegradable detergents, using state-of-the-art Detal technology from M/s UOP, USA. The key raw materials for the plant, catering to domestic as well as export market requirements meeting the latest and most stringent quality standards, are Kerosene and Benzene produced at Koyali Refinery.

The PX/PTA project marks IndianOil’s major step towards forward integration in the hydrocarbon value chain by manufacturing Paraxylene (PX) from Naphtha and thereafter, converting it into Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA). The integrated Paraxylene/Purified Terephthallic Acid (PX/PTA) complex was built at a cost of Rs. 5,104 crore within the Panipat Refinery in Haryana.

The PTA Plant is the single largest unit in India with a world-scale capacity of 5,53,000 MTPA, achieving economy of scale. The process package for the PTA plant was prepared by erstwhile M/s Dupont, UK (now M/s. Invista) and that of the Paraxylene Unit was prepared by M/s UOP, USA. M/s EIL and M/s Toyo Engineering were the Project Management Consultants (PMC) for executing the PTA and PX respectively.

The Paraxylene plant is designed to process 5,00,000 MTPA of heart-cut Naphtha to produce about 3,60,000 MTPA of PX. Naphtha is sourced from IndianOil’s Panipat and Mathura refineries, for which Naphtha splitter units are set up at the respective refineries. The PTA unit produces 5,53,000 MTPA of Purified Terephthalic Acid from Paraxylene. Technologically, the plant is one of the most advanced in the country.

The Naphtha Cracker and downstream polymer units are being set up at Panipat at a cost of Rs. 6,300 crore. An MoU has been signed in June 2004 with the Government of Haryana, who are providing fiscal incentives and concessions for the project.

Planned to be completed by 2009, this project envisages setting up of a Naphtha Cracker based on captive utilisation of Naphtha from Panipat, Mathura and Koyali refineries of IndianOil. The Naphtha Cracker complex envisages other downstream polymer units utilising intermediates ethylene and propylene to be generated from the Cracker.

The Naphtha Cracker unit is designed to produce 800,000 tonnes per annum of ethylene and 600,000 tonnes per annum of Propylene, based on which other downstream polymer units are being designed to produce Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE), High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP) and the speciality chemical Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG). The capacities of the Naphtha Cracker and polymer units are kept at world-class level, with the products ranging from commodity to niche grades.

Mr. Pradeep Chhabra
Dy. General Manager
(Petrochemicals - Marketing)
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
9th Floor, IndianOil Bhavan
1, SriAurobindo Marg
Yusuf Sarai,
New Delhi 110016
Tele: 011-26859060
Fax: 011-26512611
Email: chhabrap@iocl.co.in