Chennai Petroleum Corporation (CPCL) will set up a Rs 3,500-crore high conversion 'resid upgradation unit' to increase the distillate yield, company's Chairman S Behuria said today.
The project is expected to be completed by 2012-end, Behuria said at CPCL's 43rd annual general meeting held here.
He said the company has also decided to put up a Rs 850 crore single point mooring for crude oil receipt at Ennore, "in view of the abnormal delay in obtaining the right of way for a new crude oil pipeline from Chennai Port to Manali."
The proposed facilities would ensure Very Large Crude Carrier handling and result in saving on freight for crude oil transportation for Manali refinery. It will facilitate production of value added products like LPG.
Behuria said project execution activities for refinery III capacity expansion from 3 MMTPA to 4 MMTPA was in full swing and the project is expected to be completed by 2009 end at an estimated cost of Rs 200 crore.
He said in the first quarter of 2009-10 CPCL made net profit of Rs 304.72 crore. CPCL had posted a net loss of Rs 397.28 crore during 2008-09.
This was mainly due to 'unprecedented volatile market conditions' that prevailed from the second quarter of 2008-09 resulting in adventitious inventory loss and processing of high cost crude in a falling market.The company is currently revamping the existing Naphtha Hydro treating/Semi-regenerative catalytic reforming unit to continuous catalytic reforming mode at an estimated cost of Rs 273 crore and the project is expected to be completed by end of 2009, Behuria said.
The company has also undertaken the auto fuel quality upgradation project at an estimated cost of Rs 2,615 crore in the Manali Refinery.
This is being done to produce high value distillates such as MS and HSD meeting Euro IV specifications for Chennai and Bangalore and "to upgrade product quality from Bharat Stage II to Euro III equivalent specifications for the rest of the locations from April 2010 onwards, as per the auto fuel policy of the Centre".
