The Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL), a subsidiary of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission(ONGC), is planning to set up a joint venture with the State Trading Corporation (STC) of Mauritius Government to set up large storage oil terminals in Mauritius, to jointly explore sale of petroleum products in the African market. |
An in-principle agreement to set up a joint venture for large storage terminals has been agreed between MRPL and the Mauritius Government authorities, said R Rajamani, managing director, MRPL. |
"The discussions are at a preliminary stage and the Mauritius Government has to get back to us on how to develop the facilities and their requirements. At present Mauritius lacks large storage facilities for oil, which prevents large tankers to dock and supply. Once, large storage terminals are in place through a joint venture, we could use these facilities and also save in logistics," he said. |
He added it is too early to assess the investment required for the project. Sources said STC of Mauritius is the sole authority for oil supply in that country, through oil companies like Indian Oil and Shell. The joint venture could be beneficial for MRPL to not only augment its supplies, but also to tap the potential in the African markets. Geographically, Mauritius is the gateway to enter South Africa and other African markets. MRPL started exports of petroleum products last year, to Dubai, with supplies to the Emirates Oil Company. With the planned expansion of the refining capacity from the current 9.69 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) to 15 MMTPA per annum by 2010, MRPL hopes to increrase its exports. |
Two weeks ago, MRPL and the State Trading Corporation (STC) of Mauritius had entered into supply of one million MTPA of petroleum products worth over $2 billion for a period of three years since August 2007, to meet the entire petroleum products requirements of Mauritius. As per the contract, MRPL will supply motor gasoline (MS), diesel (HSD), aviation turbine fuel (ATF) and furnace oil (FO) for a period of three years commencing from August 2007. MRPL already has an existing supply pact with STC Mauritius, to supply one MMTPA of various petroleum products. This deal, signed in August 2006, ends by the end of this month. |