While consumers of petroleum worldwide are worried about the increasing prices, oil refiners are facing a bigger challenge.
India refiners need to upgrade plants.
NEW DELHI: While consumers of petroleum worldwide are worried about the increasing prices, oil refiners are facing a bigger challenge. The quality of crude oil is steadily declining, necessitating fresh investment in refineries.
Oliver Appert, chairman and chief executive officer, Institute Francais Du Petrole (IFP), told DNA Money that the challenge in India was not only to increase capacities but also to improve combustion of crude oil.
IFP is a French research body that holds patents for about 12,000 technologies and systems across the petroleum sector.
The organisation’s association with India began way back in 1960 when it played an important role in setting up of the Indian Institute of Petroleum, one of the constituent laboratories of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.
Appert pointed out the changing quality of crude which would require more advanced technologies for processing it into petroleum products. “The quality of crude oil is different from what it was when Indian refineries first came up. Adapting to the new crude will require significant investment,” said Appert.
Another major challenge for the refiners would be to improve the quality of transport fuels. The government has laid out a roadmap for introducing Euro-IV vehicular emission norms in 11 cities and Euro-III norms in the rest of the country by 2010. This requires an investment of Rs 55,000 crore by oil and automobile companies in making fuel quality and vehicular engine specifications less harmful for the environment.
Appert, along with an IFP delegation, recently held discussions with the oil company chiefs and M S Srinivasan, secretary, ministry of petroleum & natural gas.
IFP has offered technological solution to overcome current oil reserve limits and ensure transition to alternate energies. It has also offered expertise in reducing emission of particulate matter and green house gases for sustainable development.
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