Intek Asia-Pacific of Malaysia, consultants to Kochi Refineries' Rs.780 crore crude oil receipt facilities project, would submit their revised cost estimate report in June 2005. The report would be taken up for approval in the KRL board meeting in July 2005.

The project would now be executed on "conventional method" basis that means that contractors will be appointed for taking up distinct project segments. KRL had earlier planned to implement the project on a turnkey basis. The cost escalation, coming from rising steel prices, is to the extent of 40 per cent above the approved cost of Rs.780 crore. If the company goes in for the turnkey approach, the project cost would work out to Rs.900 crore. The facility at Puthuvypeen Island near here is scheduled to become operational by May 2007.

Project details: The project involves laying of a  48-inch submarine pipeline for a distance of 20 km from the single buoy mooring (SBM) location to the shore tank farm and from there 30-inch pipeline covering 6 km to connect the existing pipeline would also have to be laid.

The crude oil receipt facilities consisting of SBM, a shore tank farm and connected pipelines was mooted to reduce the cost of crude oil transport and handling as part of the Rs 3,000-crore expansion programme of KRL to be completed by 2010, wherein petroleum refining capacity would be raised from 7.5 million tpa to 13.5 million tpa. Engineers India Ltd prepared the detailed feasibility report that was approved by the KRL board.