MRPL to ramp up capacity; plans 30 retail outlets by 2010

Mangalore, Dec 2 (UNI) Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) will scale up its production from the current 9.69 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 15 MTPA by 2010 at an investment of Rs 8,000 crore, even as it will set up 30 retail fuel outlets by 2007-08.

The retail outlets will be set up in Hyderabad, Secunderabad and Tamil Nadu, for which the company is in the process of acquiring land, MRPL Managing Director R Rajamani told reporters here.

MRPL has set up a Rs 4,852-crore-aromatic project at Mangalore SEZ for the production of Para-xylene from naptha with an initial capacity of nine lakh tonnes per annum. The plant will be dedicated to the nation today by Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora. It will start operations by the mid of this month.

The company expects an increase in exports to 5-6 million tonnes by the end of next fiscal garnering a total turnover of Rs 12,000 crore, Mr Rajamani added.

The new 'ISOM unit' of the company being set up with at Rs 260 crore for the production of Euro IV MS will start commercial production by December 15, he pointed out.

Meanwhile, MRPL's parent company ONGC will raise the production in its Sakhalin unit from the existing 1,66,000 barrels per day to 2,50,000 barrels a day by mid-February next year, ONGC Chairman and Managing Director R S Sharma said.

Talking about the upgrade and expansion projects, Mr Sharma said attempts are being made to enter into the LOBS market and to make distillate yield up by 10 per cent.

ONGC was also mulling to set up a greenfield refining plant with a total capacity of 15 million tonnes at Mangalore SEZ. ''It depends on the techno-economic feasibility conditions,'' the ONGC Chairman said.

Yesterday, ONGC received the shipment of Sakhalin-I crude oil from Russia at MRPL's complex. The shipment will be formally received by Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora today.

UNI DKS PKS/PV RAI1353