IndianOil to pump in Rs 14,439 cr for naphtha cracker complex
New Delhi   13-Sep-2008
IndianOil naphtha cracker complex along with the PX-PTA units is coming up at the Panipat refinery at a cost of Rs 14,439 crore. With the commissioning of the complex, the company's exports of naphtha will stand reduced to 1 MT. With the expansion of Panipat refinery to 15 million tonnes and setting up of the 15-MT Paradip refinery, the company's annual refining capacity, including that of its subsidiaries, will increase to 81.4 MT by 2011-12. IndianOil's Panipat and Haldia refineries would be capable of processing 80-90 per cent high sulphur crude. "Except at Barauni and Digboi, all refineries will be able to process high sulphur crude," IndianOil’s director (refinery) B.N. Bankapur said. High sulphur crude is $4-5 a barrel cheaper than sweet crude. "New discoveries are all high sulphur and heavy crude," he said. IndianOil is also upgrading its processing facilities for handling high sulphur crude. High sulphur crude at present comprises 60-70 per cent of its total crude requirement. The share of high sulphur crude will increase to 76 per cent by 2012 with the commissioning of Paradip refinery. Meanwhile, Cairn India may have to sell its crude from the Barmer fields in Rajasthan at a discount of $16-18 a barrel to the Bombay High crude, which is benchmarked to Bonny Light. IndianOil, which owns 10 of the country's 19 refineries with a combined refinery capacity of 60.2 million tonnes, wants the discount since Cairn's crude is waxy and heavy in nature. "We are ready to take the crude provided it is economically priced. After research and development, we have estimated that we can substitute maximum 10 per cent of the crude in our pipeline with the Rajasthan crude," Bankapur said. He added that its pipeline system could take around 1.5-2 million tonnes of Rajasthan crude. Cairn had recently increased its production estimate to plateau rate of production from the three proven Rajasthan fields - Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya — to 1,75,000 barrels of oil per day from the previously forecast figure of 150,000 barrels of oil per day. The company is also engaged in upgradation of fuel quality to Euro -IV norms from April 1, 2010, for supply in 13 major cities. The rest of the country will switch to Euro- III norms. The total expenditure on product quality upgradation will be over Rs 16,941 crore.