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Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) has drawn up Rs 32,500 crore expansion plans to increase its refining capacity from the current 30.5 million tonne per annum to 47.5 million tpa by 2016-17.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (BPCL) will invest Rs 20,000 crore at its Kochi refinery to expand its capacity from 9.5 million tpa to 15.5 million tpa. This expansion will make BPCL’s Kochi refinery the largest public sector refinery in India. At BPCL’s Mumbai refinery capacity would go up from 12 million tpa to 14 million tpa.
BPCL will also invest Rs 10,000 crore on its Numaligarh refinery in Assam, to expand its capacity from three million tpa to nine million tpa. Bina refinery at Madhya Pradesh, which is a joint venture between BPCL and Oman Oil Company Ltd. (OOCL), will expand its capacity from six million tpa to nine million tpa.
BPCL’s foray into the upstream sector through its Exploration & Production arm, Bharat PetroResources Ltd. (BPRL) has shown great promise, reporting a total of 17 discoveries: eight in Mozambique, six in Brazil and one each in India, Indonesia and Australia till now. As of January 2013, BPRL has participating interests in 25 exploration blocks.
India’s total refining capacity increased from 187.4 million tpa in 2011 to 215.1 million tpa as on 1 January 2013, and is projected to reach 218.4 million tpa by the end of 2012-13 and 239.6 million tpa in 2013-14 with capacity augmentation of existing refineries and commissioning of the Indian Oil Corpn. Ltd.’s (IOC) Paradip Refinery.
Last month, another public sector enterprise, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) signed an MoU with the Rajasthan government for setting up a nine million tpa oil refinery and petrochemical complex in Barmer with an investment of Rs 37,320 crore. HPCL will also expand the capacity of its Vizag refinery to 15 million tpa by 2016-17.
India is emerging as a refinery hub as the last decade showed a tremendous growth in the refining sector. The Economic Survey 2012-13 noted that India is not only self-sufficient but also substantially exporting petroleum products.
In the 12th Five year plan period 50 million tonne will be added to the total refining capacity of India through capacity expansion projects of existing units. While new refinery units, which are expected to come up in the near future, will add up to 90.5 million tonne to India’s total refining capacity.
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