HPCL to raise Barmer unit capacity to 15 mtpa

Pachpadra, Rajasthan: Once the ambitious 3 lakh barrels per day (bpd) of production from Cairn India’s Barmer basin becomes a reality, it will have a ready customer in the state itself.

According to petroleum minister M Veerappa Moily, the ministry is keen to match the refining capacity of the new refinery being built by HPCL at Barmer to that of the crude oil produced from the fields of Cairn here. the barmer unit is being built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, and will have a starting refining capacity of 9 million tonne per annum (mtpa),

The refinery will also have an adjoining petrochemicals complex for which HPCL will be investing Rs 17,000 crore.

Both HPCL and the Rajasthan state government are shareholders in the project with 74% and 26% stakes respectively.

Moily said initially the refinery is being planned to source 50% crude from the Barmer fields and 50% from imported sources, largely the South American region which equals the quality of the crude produced here.

However, the refinery capacity will be further increased in tandem with the increase in the crude production from the Cairn fields.

“Cairn India is planning to drill 200 wells per year and this will help the company in reaching an output of 300,000 barrels per day (or close to 15 mtpa). Once that reaches, we will absorb the entire crude in the refinery by increasing its capacity to 15 mtpa and later to 20 mtpa,” he said.

He said this will be India’s first indigenous refinery cum-petrochemicals complex.

Cairn India had proposed an integrated development plan to the government of India for increasing production from its Barmer fields from the current 1.8 lakh bpd to 2.4 lakh bpd in the medium term (3-4 years) and 3 lakh bpd in the long term.

In fact, in August, Anil Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta Resources (which owns Cairn India), had sent a letter to Moily requesting him to give the company speedy approvals.

Moily said the ministry concerned and the Cabinet Committee on Investments is looking into the issue and would try to expedite the necessary approvals.