Mr L.N. Mittal, Chairman and CEO, Arcelor Mittal, said that the capacity of Bhatinda refinery could be raised to 18 mtpa in future.
The 9 mtpa refinery will not only increase energy security but also establish Punjab as a petrochem hub.
The Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Phulkori, Bathinda has been built at a cost of $4 billion. The refinery has been built by HPCL-Mittal Energy joint venture, HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd.
Bhatinda refinery is Mr Mittal’s first venture in downstream oil sector. His upstream oil and gas exploration venture with the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation hasn’t been a great success and he has gradually withdrawn from almost all projects, say industry experts.
HPCL and Mittal Energy Investment Pte Ltd, Singapore, a Lakshmi Mittal Group company, hold 49 per cent stake each in HEML, while 2 per cent is held by financial institutions.
The refinery has high Nelson Complexity Index which will enable maximising value-added products even from heavy/sour crudes. Crude oil to the refinery is to be ferried through a 1,014-km pipeline from Mundra in Gujarat where the oil is imported from abroad.
The refinery will meet the growing fuel requirements of the market in north India.
The refinery has raised the total oil refining capacity in the country to 216.066 million tonnes per annum from 198.886 million tonnes.
Source: Hindu Business Line