IOC eyes petroleum retailing in Myanmar

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has submitted its bid to enter fuel marketing and retail business in Myanmar. 

The state-run firm currently has marketing subsidiaries in Sri Lanka, Mauritius and West Asia. IOC, as part of its overseas expansion, is set to come up with its first international product pipeline to Nepal. 

“We have submitted a bid to start retail outlets and also to set up LPG plants in Myanmar,” said Anish Aggarwal, director (pipelines) of IOC, on the sidelines of a summit organised by Project Management Institute. 

Last year, Myanma Petroleum Products Enterprise had invited private companies to form a joint venture for importing, storage, distribution and sale of all petroleum products. 

The concept of this pipeline was first proposed in 2006 as a joint venture between IOC and Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC). However, it never took off as NOC was not keen on the project. 

“We are awaiting the statutory clearance from the Nepal government. Once it is in place, the project can be commissioned with in 30 months,” Aggarwal added. 

India exports $1.1 billion worth of petroleum products to Nepal annually. 

It was in 2015 that IOC signed a memorandum of understanding with NOC to lay the pipeline between Raxaul in Bihar to Amlekhganj in Nepal at a capacity of 1.3 million tonnes per annum. The project would cost about Rs 275 crore and cover 41 km. 

Currently, all petroleum products are trucked from IOC’s depot in Bihar to Nepal. The project includes expansion of the Amlekhgunj Amlekhganj depot. 

Thirty-nine km out of the 41-km pipeline lie in India. Currently, IOC supplies petroleum products to Nepal from Haldia, Barauni and Karnal refineries.