April 11, 2018
The Ratnagiri project will be capable of processing 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day and producing around 18 million tonnes per annum of petrochemicals
Saudi Aramco which will jointly own the project with the Indian consortium, will have the option to include a strategic partner to co-invest in the US$45 billion project
Besides refinery, cracker and petrochemicals facilities, RRPCL will include assets such as a logistics, crude oil and product storage terminals and supporting infrastructure
Besides supporting India’s fuel consumption, third highest globally, RRPCL will ascertain a steady customer for Saudi Aramco’s - the world’s largest crude oil producers
A consortium of Indian state-run oil and gas giants have agreed with Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco) to jointly develop the world’s largest integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex at Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. On April 11th, Saudi Aramco signed a preliminary agreement with Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (RRPCL), a consortium of comprising of Indian Oil Corp Ltd, Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd, to jointly develop the project. The project, which has an estimated budget of around US$45 billion, will be capable of processing 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day and producing around 18 million tonnes per annum of petrochemicals. The project, to be owned equally by Saudi Aramco and the Indian consortium, will help meet India’s fast-growing fuels and petrochemicals demand. Under the arrangement, Saudi Aramco may also seek to include a strategic partner to co-invest in the project.
The partnership brings together crude oil supply, resources, technologies, experience and expertise of these oil companies with an established market around the world. A pre-feasibility study for the refinery has been completed, and the parties are now finalising the project’s overall configuration. Following the signing of the preliminary agreement, the parties will extend their collaboration to discuss the formation of a joint venture that would provide for joint ownership, control and management of the project. Besides processing crude oil, the plant will produce a vast range of refined petroleum products, including petrol and diesel meeting BS-VI fuel efficiency norms. The refinery will also provide feedstock for the integrated petrochemicals complex. In addition to refinery, cracker and petrochemicals facilities, RRPCL will include associated facilities such as a logistics, crude oil and product storage terminals and supporting water and power infrastructure.
The project comes as a milestone in India’s evolving oil and gas industry, which now ranks third in the world in terms of consumption. Besides supporting India’s fuel consumption, RRPCL will ascertain a steady customer for Saudi Aramco’s crude oil production – the largest in the world. The Saudi Arabian-state controlled company had opened an office in New Delhi in 2017 to expand its presence in this key economic growth region fro just a crude oil supplier to a more integrated operation involving refining, marketing and petrochemicals products manufacturing. Saudi Aramco’s chief executive Amin Nasser had said that investing in India is a key part of the company’s global downstream strategy, and another milestone in our growing relationship with India. The world’s current largest refining and petrochemicals plant with capacity of 1.2 million barrels per day is also located in India at Jamnagar in Gujarat and is run by privately-held Reliance Industries Ltd.