IndianOil may tie up with ENI, Kazakh for Turkey refinery

New Delhi, Aug 22 (UNI) State-owned oil refiner IndianOil Corporation today said KazMunayGas (KMG) of Kazakhstan and ENI of Italy may be roped in as new equity partners for a proposed 15-million-tonne (MT) refinery in Turkey.

''For the proposed refinery worth Rs 20,000 crore, KazMunayGas (KMG) of Kazakhstan and Italy's ENI might be roped in as new equity partners,'' IndianOil Chairman Sarthak Behuria told reporters here.

''Calik is talking to them. Investment is so huge, we need partners,'' he said, adding that KazMunayGas will supply crude.

Partnering it will also open gates for us to enter the CIS countries.

IndianOil has already formed 51:49 joint ventures with Calik Holding of Turkey for setting up the export-oriented refinery at the port city of Ceyhan.

The project has received the provisional approval from the Energy Market Regulatory Authority of Turkey in May this year.

Meanwhile, Mr Behuria said the upgradation of the Barauni refinery in Bihar will be completed by the end of this year.

IOC's current gross refining margins were at 6.5-7 dollars per barrel, he said and expected margins in the July-September quarter to remain at 6-7 dollars a barrel, compared to around 10.7 dollars a barrel in the previous quarter.

UNI