IOC mulls expanding capacity at Panipat refinery to 21mn tonne

Currently, it has a capacity to turn 12 million tonne of crude oil per annum into refined petroleum products or fuel

State-owned Indian Oil Corp is planning to expand the capacity of its largest refinery at Panipat to 21 million tonne, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said today.

 

Currently, it has a capacity to turn 15 million tonne of crude oil per annum into refined petroleum products or fuel.

 

"The refining capacity of Panipat will be enhanced to 21 million tonnes per annum," Moily told reporters here.

 

IOC Chairman R S Butola said the expansion plan was at the drawing board stage and investments have not yet been firmed up.

 

As a thumb-rule, it could cost about USD 1 billion. The expansion may be accompanied by raising capacity of the adjacent petrochemical complex.

 

The nation's largest refiner is also exploring the possibility of expanding capacity at its Koyali refinery in Gujarat from 13.7 million tonne to 18 million tonne, at a cost of about Rs 5,500 crore.

 

IOC currently has the refining capacity of 65 million tonne, which is being expanded to 80 million tonne.

 

Commissioning the Rs 890 crore Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) project at the Panipat refinery-cum-petrochemical complex, Moily said India's refining capacity will rise to about 333 million tonne by the end of 2022, from 215 million tonne at present.

 

"With grass-root refineries at Paradip (15 million tonne) and Nagarjuna Oil Corp's Cuddalore unit (6 million tonne) and expansion of some of the existing refineries, the total refining capacity is expected to touch around 271.2 million tonne by the end of the current 12th plan period (2017). Further, it is expected to go up to 332.9 million tonne at the end of 13th Plan," he said.

 

As part of integrating petrochemical value chain and enhancing value from the Naphtha Cracker at Panipat, SBR project envisages production of Styrene Butadiene Rubber from the Butadiene feedstock available from the Naphtha Cracker.

 

The project is being executed as a joint venture Indian Synthetic Rubber Ltd (ISRL) - between IOC, Marubeni of Japan; and Taiwan's TSRC.

 

"Synthetic rubber consumption has increased due to the rapid industrialisation of the Indian economy. The tyre sector is the largest end-use sector for synthetic rubber in India," Moily said.

 

SBR which accounts for 40% of the total synthetic rubber demand is consumed mostly in the tyre sector. As tyre production in India is increasing at a fast pace, the synthetic rubber consumption has also gone up simultaneously.

 

"This manufacturing unit of SBR was planned in the backdrop of this increasing demand for synthetic rubber and to reduce Indias import dependency," he said.