An Indian consortium comprising three state-run refiners and Saudi Arabian Oil Company will develop an integrated refinery and a petrochemical complex at Ratnagiri, Maharashtra at an estimated cost of Rs 3 lakh crore.
This is 50:50 strategic partnership between the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd, and Saudi Aramco, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said at the 16th International Energy Forum in New Delhi on Wednesday. Aramco has the option to include another partner.
The refinery will be capable of processing 1.2 million barrels of crude a day.
It will also provide feedstock for the integrated petrochemicals complex which will be capable of producing about 80 million tonnes of petrochemical products every year, Pradhan said. “The project will bring huge benefit to the state of Maharashtra in terms of large-scale employment,” he said.
The refinery will produce a range of refined petroleum products including petrol and diesel meeting BS-VI emission standards.
We have teamed up with three great partners in the Indian market. We have the support of the Indian government and we will do something good for the Indian economy. We would like to see it happen before 2025.Amin Nasser, President and CEO at Saudi Aramco
In addition to the refinery, cracker and downstream petrochemical facilities, the project will also include the developing associated facilities such as crude oil and product storage terminals.
“It is a joint venture of two blocs – domestic and international. We are managing the international bloc of the refinery,” said Khalid A Al Falih, Chairman at Saudi Aramco. “We may introduce another international partner in Aramco’s 50 percent stake. We have received interest from another international company.”
(This story was first published on BloombergQuint.)
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