IndianOil plans pipelines connecting bottling plants to LPG source
Chennai   03-Apr-2013

IndianOil intends to lay pipelines connecting its bottling plants with the source of liquefied petroleum gas, a move aimed at considerably reducing road movement of the product and cost saving.

Describing it as a massive plan, IndianOil Director-Marketing M. Nene said the proposal included laying pipelines from the IndianOil-Petronas LPG Import-Export Terminal in Ennore to Tiruchi and Madurai.

The company was exploring the possibility of connecting the terminal to Bangalore.

For this, it might use the corridor of the petroleum product pipeline from Chennai to Bangalore. IndianOil also has a Chennai-Tiruchi-Madurai product pipeline.

Mr. Nene was speaking to presspersons on Tuesday at a formal inauguration of the terminal, which with its installed capacity of 800,000 tonnes was expected to a great extent balance the shortfall in availability of LPG in parts of south India. Maximum movement of LPG takes place from the source to the bottling plant, he said, pointing out that with the terminal the secondary logistics cost on transportation of the product from Mangalore and Vishakapatnam was saved.

IndianOil-Petronas Pvt. Ltd (IPPL), which has set up its first such LPG terminal in Haldia in 2001, was planning to meet the LPG requirements of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh from the Ennore facility.

Mr. Nene, who is the chairman of IPPL, would explore business opportunities for providing terminalling services on the west coast for customers in west and north India.

Ennore, he added, was emerging as a highly strategic location for petroleum business and IOC was about to commence construction work on a five million tonne liquefied natural gas terminal there. The company, he said, was working on tying up for the LNG supplies.

Petronas (Malaysia) vice-president (Refining and Trading) M. Farid Adnan said the estimated LPG deficit in India by 2020 was 9.3 million tonne.

The Ennore LPG terminal would bring significant benefits to Tamil Nadu. IPPL Chief Executive Officer Mrinal Roy said the Ennore facility started commercial operations in August 2012.