India gets highest ever funding in refinery sector, big booster for HPCL, IOCL, BPCL

Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today discussed ways to further deepen India's oil & gas engagement with Saudi. This was during the signing of MoU between Saudi ARAMCO and ADNOC for participating in the greenfield Ratnagiri Refinery cum petrochemical project in Maharashtra. Today, India added ADNOC as another partner in their mega refinery project, which first involved only Saudi ARAMCO and RRPCL and the three oil marketing companies – IOCL, BPCL and HPCL. The investment by Saudi ARAMCO and ADNOC in the $ 44 billion project will be the highest ever overseas investment in the Indian refining sector.

Pradhan says, “The significance, however, goes much beyond FDI. It is a strategic partnership between India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE which is symbolised by the MoU. The strategic partnership brings together crude supply, resources, technologies, experience and expertise of these multiple oil companies with an established commercial presence around the world.”

Regarding the Ratnagiri Refinery, Pradhan informed that, the mega refinery will be capable of processing 1.2 million barrels of crude oil per day (60 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum). 

It will produce a large 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, which will have the capacity of producing approx. 18 million tonnes per annum of petrochemical products.

“We look forward to ushering a new era of cooperation between India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the oil and gas sector,” Pradhan said lastly.