RIL kicks off crude processing at Jamnagar refinery

Mumbai: Reliance Petroleum (RPL) kicked off crude processing at its new 29 million-tonne (580,000 barrels per day) refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat. This export-oriented $ 6-billion project is expected to target markets in Europe, North America and Asia for its products.

RPL is a subsidiary of Reliance Industries which had commissioned a 33 million-tonne refinery in phases close to the new project nearly a decade ago.

The group is now the world’s largest refining entity at a single location with a total capacity of 62 million tonnes.

Its private sector counterpart, Essar Oil, has a 10.5 million tonne refinery in nearby Vadinar and plans to expand capacity to 34 million tonnes in the coming years.

Mr Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, RPL, said that the company would “leverage its competitive advantages of scale, complexity and capability to process a wide range of crude oils”.

The commissioning of the new refinery comes at a time when the world is in the midst of a severe slowdown. It remains to be seen if a slump in consumption of petro-products will cause big customers such as China or the US to cut down on imports.

Agency reports, however, suggest that Reliance is “better-placed to ride out the downturn, with a strategic position near West Asian East crude supplies and an unrivalled capacity and complexity. It will play a swing supply role that will redraw traditional trade flows”.

Back home, the company had announced the closure of its 1,400-and-odd retail outlets when crude prices had crossed the $100 per barrel mark and surged to levels of $ 147.

Quite unlike its public sector counterparts, it could not afford to sell auto fuels at subsidised prices.