IOCL's Paradip refinery aims 100% output even after Iran oil waiver ends

Company foresees no problem on availability of crude, will get it from other suppliers; Paradip refinery currently imports from US, Nigeria, UAE, Saudi and Iran

Oil marketing major Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL)  aims to achieve 100 per cent capacity utilisation of its 15-million-tonne-per-annum (mtpa) Paradip refinery in 2019-20 even if US ends the waiver of oil import from Iran.

"We have the closed the last fiscal with 14.6 million tonne capacity utilisation. Paradip refinery is equipped to process different types of crude. We will achieve more than 100 per cent of the capacity at the refinery during FY20," said senior official of IOCL.

IOCL's 15 mtpa coastal refinery at Paradip is spread over 3,345 acres, built with an estimated cost of Rs 34,555 crore. The refinery can process 100 per cent high-sulphur and heavy crude oil to produce various petroleum products, including petrol and diesel of BS-IV quality, kerosene, aviation turbine fuel, propylene, sulphur, and petroleum coke. It is also designed to produce Euro-V premium quality motor spirit and other green auto fuel variants for export.

"We will not have any problem on availability of crude. If there is no supply of crude from Iran, we will get it from other sources", he added. The refinery sources crude from the US, Nigeria, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The US has announced that the Donald Trump administration would no longer grant exemptions to some countries to import Iran oil with the conditional waiver set to expire on May 2.

Paradip Refinery is IOCL's 11th refinery and was dedicated to the nation by prime minister Narendra Modi in February 2016, the foundation stone for which was laid in May 2000 by then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

It is considered to be the most modern refinery of the country, with a complexity factor of 10.7 based on Nelson Index. The refinery is configured to process high-sulphur crude oils with major secondary processing units such as Naphtha Hydro treating Unit (NHT), Continuous Catalytic Reformer (CCRU), Diesel Hydro-treatment Unit (DHDT), VGO Hydro treatment Unit (VGOHDT), INDMAX, Delayed Coking Unit (DCU), Alkylation unit, Merox, etc.

IOCL has pledged to invest Rs 52,000 crore more on ramping up refinery capacity and commissioning some additional units of its planned petrochemicals complex. 

The oil marketing major IOCL  has already started exporting products to different countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore and Myanmar from its  refinery at Paradip.

With the scaling up of refinery capacity and installation of petrochemical units, exports by IOCL are expected to grow though meeting domestic demand would top the oil major’s agenda.