IndianOil to upgrade refineries to cut import bill
Mumbai   13-Sep-2008
IndianOil would upgrade its refineries equipping them to process high sulphur crude oil to cut its import bill. "Currently our refineries process 50 per cent of high sulphur crude and we want to take this percentage up to 76 per cent by 2012 through upgrading our refineries," IndianOil Director (Refineries) B N Bankapur said. High sulphur crude oil can be bought at a discount of about $5, he said. Bankapur also said the state-owned oil marketing and refining company can take up to two million tonnes of crude oil from Cairn India's Rajasthan oilfield, but has sought a discount of 18 dollars per barrel. "Maximum we can take two million tonnes of Rajasthan crude," he said. The waxy nature of crude found in the desert state acts as a handicap, he said. "The Rajasthan 'crude has to be economically priced for me as I have to incur additional cost for transporting the crude which turns solid at normal temperature," he said. Cairn India plans to produce 8.25 million tonnes of crude from its Balmer oilfield and plans to start selling to Indian refiners from the middle of next year. He also said that the financial closure for its Rs 29,777 crore Paradip refinery would be achieved in the next three to four months. The refinery will have a capacity of 15 million tonnes.