Indian Oil Plans to Commission Paradip Refinery Soon

Paradip, Odisha: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) expects to commission its oil refinery at Paradip soon as 96 per cent of the construction work at the project is already complete.

"Overall 96 per cent construction of the oil refinery project here has been done so far. We expect it will be commissioned very soon," said Ramjee Ram, executive director in-charge of the project.

Stating that the Paradip project would contribute significantly towards growth of the country, the state as well as Indian Oil, Mr Ram said the refinery was the company's largest investment in a single project and was also the first zero-residue refinery of the country.

The 15 MMTPA Paradip refinery is Indian Oil's dream project, designed with a Nelson Complexity Index of 11.3, he said, while addressing a function organised Odisha on Monday to mark the Indian Oil Day.

The refinery was designed to operate on a broad basket of crude oils, including cheaper, high sulphur and heavy grades and was configured to perform with high energy efficiency, Mr Ram said, adding that the processing scheme has combinations of hydrocracker unit and delayed coker unit to maximise distillate yield like jet fuel, kerosene and diesel.

According to Mr Ram, major products would be liquefied petroleum gas, naptha, motor spirit, diesel and sulphur. The latest state-of-art global process technologies were being employed and entire range of products would be high value distillates.

Very large crude containers would offload crude directly into the refinery tanks through the single point mooring facility installed 23 kms inside sea connected to a pipeline link, he said, adding, the evacuation of products would be carried out through Paradip port and through pipelines.

The refinery would primarily handle high sulphur, high residue international crudes to ensure profitability and energy security of the nation, he said.

My Ram further said that immediate potential growth of ancillary and auxiliary units around the refinery would serve as an economic stimulus for industrial development.

Environmental protection was being given special attention and more than 600 acres around the refinery has been developed as a greenbelt with five lakh trees for green cover, he added.