Indian Oil expects Gujarat refinery expansion to 18M tons by fiscal year end

Synopsis

Indian Oil's flagship refinery in Gujarat is expected to expand its capacity to 18 million metric tons. This expansion is part of the ongoing Petrochemicals and Lube Integration Project, which integrates refining and petrochemical production. Currently, the refinery sources 30% of its crude from domestic fields and 70% from imports. The operations include diversified sourcing from regions like the Middle East, the US, and Venezuela.

VADODARA: Indian Oil expects its flagship refinery in the western state of Gujarat to start operating at an expanded capacity of 18 million metric tons per year by the end of this fiscal year, Executive Director and Gujarat Refinery Head Biplob Biswas said on Wednesday.

The refinery is expanding its capacity from 13.7 million tons per year under the ongoing Petrochemicals and Lube Integration Project (LuPech), which is integrating refining and lube oil base stocks and petrochemicals in Gujarat's Vadodara.

Biswas said the refinery currently processes domestic crude from north Gujarat and south Gujarat, and both high and low sulphur imported crude.

30% of the crude is sourced from domestic fields, while 70% is imported.

"Based on the availability of crude, there are times when Russian crude goes up. We have crude from the Middle East. We are gradually diversifying. We have picked up cargoes from the US in the past as well. Our portfolio is very diversified," he said.

The refinery has processed crude from Venezuela too, he added.