Essar Oil Limited today announced
the successful start up of operations at its petroleum refinery at Vadinar in
Gujarat, India.
The plant will start its
trial production with a capacity of 7.5 million tons per annum of crude, which
will gradually go up to 10.5 million tons per annum. This current phase of
commissioning comes four months ahead of the originally scheduled date of
commissioning, ie March 31, 2007. Essar Oil expects to attain production at
full capacity in the next two quarters.
The company said that the
project cost of Rs10,826 crore (USD 2.4 billion) is extremely competitive and
lower than estimated costs for a green field refinery.
The refinery has been built
with state-of-the-art, contemporary technology and will have the capability to
produce petrol and diesel suitable for use in India as well as advanced
international markets. It will also produce LPG, Naphtha, light diesel oil,
aviation turbine fuel and kerosene. It has been designed to handle a diverse
range of crude - from sweet to sour and light to heavy.
Mr Shashi Ruia, Chairman,
Essar Group said, "We are
delighted at the successful commissioning of Essar Oil's Refinery at a time
when India is strengthening its presence in global markets and integrating with
the global economy. The refinery signals our commitment to the nation to be a
strong and dominant force in core sectors of the Indian economy. The early
commissioning is also a tribute to the employees of the Essar Group and its
business associates, for their unstinted efforts".
The refinery comes at a
most opportune time and will fulfill the gap between worldwide demand and
supply in the petroleum sector. Currently, refineries the world over are
operating at over 98 percent capacity utilization. Significantly, there has
been no addition to refining capacities in the last three years and planned new
capacities are not expected to come up before the end of 2008.
Essar Oil's refinery is
supported by dedicated infrastructure that includes utilities, terminals, crude
intake and product evacuation facilities. These include:
Vadinar
Oil Terminal,
which has an integrated facility to receive crude through a single point mooring
system and dispatch of finished petroleum products through its product jetty.
The terminal can handle 32 million tons per annum of crude intake with a
capability of handling tankers up to 350,000 DWT and product dispatch
facilities with an annual capacity of 14 million tons. The terminal includes a
port, a tank farm, associated pipeline network and storage & dispatch
facilities. The terminal has been built at a cost of Rs2,857 crore (USD 635
million).
Vadinar Power Company,
which generates 120 MW of power at its co-generation plant and feeds both power
and process steam for the refinery.
Essar
Constructions
had a major role in the engineering, planning and construction of the entire
refinery and had meticulously planned and executed the entire project in record
time. Essar Constructions has over 1000 highly qualified technical and skilled
manpower, besides the 16,000 people who worked at the refinery site during the
project phase. The Essar Group believes that the synergies and advantages of
the construction business have been a distinct advantage in building this
petroleum complex.
Marketing
The company's products will have a ready market both internationally and in
India. The ideal location of the refinery near the Vadinar port ensures easy
access to all international markets including Europe and the USA.
The company's strategy of
commissioning its retail outlet in advance of the commissioning of the refinery
ensures a ready outlet for its products in India. The company will also be in a
position to supply to bulk consumers. Essar Oil has already commissioned over
900 retail outlets and expects to have 1500 outlets fully operational by the
end of March 2007.
About Essar Oil
Essar Oil is a fully integrated oil company of international size and scale,
covering the entire value chain from exploration and production to refining and
retailing of oil. Essar has set up over 900 retail outlets which are fully
operational and plans to set up 2500 retail outlets by the end of 2007. Essar
Oil employs highly qualified and experienced technical staff at its refinery.
About Essar
The Essar Group is one of India's largest corporate houses, with interests
spanning the core and infrastructure sectors of industry - Steel, Oil &
Gas, Power, Telecom & BPO, Shipping and Construction. It has an asset base
in excess of US$6 billion (Rs27,000 crore) and employs 15,000 people.
