Ongc Teams Up With Bpcl For Gujarat Petrochem Unit
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) is joining hands with Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) for a Rs 2,552-crore petrochemical project in Hazira, Gujarat.
At a recent board meeting, ONGC decided to accept BPCL as partner for the project for downstream petrochemical products like paraxylene, orthoxylene and benzene. BPCL had informed ONGC of its interest to jointly implement the project some time back.
ONGC sources said that details of the project like funding pattern are being worked out and a decision will be taken soon. Work on the project is expected to start sometime in 1997-98.
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The project is expected be ready by 1999-2,000.
ONGC had started working on the project in 1995-96 as part of its plan to enter downstream areas. The plan was for two projects, including the one to recover kerosene from liquefied natural gas (LNG) at a cost of Rs 49 crore. The aromatic content of LNG will be further processed to make paraxylene, orthoxylene and benzene.
The petrochemical plant will have a capacity of 2.25 lakh tonnes of paraxylene, 55,000 tonnes of orthoxylene and three lakh tonnes of benzene. BPCL will market the products. Paraxylene is used to make purified terephthalic acid (PTA), used for making polyester filament yarn and fibre. Orthoxylene is used in making pthalic anhydride, a key input in paints.
Reliance Industries, which is building a large petrochemical-cum-polyester complex in Hazira, is also setting up a 1.4-million tonne paraxylene plant at Jamnagar.
One of the group companies, Reliance Petroleum, is also setting up a 22-million-tonne refinery in Jamnagar.
The raw material for the project is available with ONGC, which has an onshore gas terminal at Hazira. Gas from offshore fields at Bombay High is processed at Hazira plant and sold to Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) for sale to power, petrochemical and fertiliser plants.