The Hindu : Kerala News : KRL planning diversification

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, May 02, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

KRL planning diversification

By K. Venkiteswaran

KOCHI, MAY 1. The Kochi Refineries Limited (KRL) is mulling diversifying into liquefied natural gas/natural gas business and also has plans to revive the power project considering the future needs.

Talking to reporters here on Thursday night, the KRL chairman, S. Behuria, and the managing director, B. K. Menon, said the company was studying the various business models that had synergy with the existing business. Marketing of regassified LNG and Natural Gas, development of a power plant with natural gas as fuel, retail gas distribution through piped gas and CNG supply are some of the options under consideration, they said.

They pointed out that there had been no firm committed offtake of LNG so far and the company was having second thoughts about the viability of such a project. However, with the amendment to the Electricity Act, now production and sale of LNG was possible and it could be a raw material. The LNG Petronet Project at Dahej is to produce five million tonnes per year and the Kochi project would be of the order of 2.5 million tonnes per year. He said the KRL would definitely be a party to the Natural Gas plant when it materialises. To another question, Mr. Behuria said the BPCL will be launching superior diesel in metros like Mumbai and Delhi and for the first time diesel has been exported by the public sector.

Detailing the projects on the anvil, they pointed out that the KRL has an investment plan of around Rs. 3,000 crores during the period up to 2010. In view of the projected increase in the dmeand of LPG in Kerala, the company has set up an LPG bottling plant at Ambalamugal with the assistance of the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited. This modern plant can fill around 12,000 cylinders per day. The project was commissioned last August. The capacity expansion-cum-modernisation project, in its first phase, envisages the setting up of facilities for quality upgradation of Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel to meet the Bharat State II emission norms. The investment approval for this project was obtained last July and the project is under implementation. It is expected to be commissioned this December and the estimated cost is around Rs. 273 crores.

In the second phase, the project is for setting up of facilities for quality upgradation of petrol and diesel to meet Euro III emission norms, modernisation measures and capacity expansion of the refinery. The detailed feasibility report for the project was prepared by Engineers India Limited and the estimated cost of this project is around Rs. 2,000 crores and is scheduled for completion by 2010.

In order to reduce the cost, it is proposed to set up independent crude oil receipt facilities consisting of a single buoy mooring (SBM), a shore tank farm and connected pipelines. The detailed feasibility report for setting up the SBM at Puthuvypeen has been prepared by Engineers India Limited and was approved by the KRL Board. The No-objection-certificate has been obtained from the Kerala State Pollution Control Board and clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests is expected by June this year. The estimated cost of this project is Rs. 623 crores and the expected time of completion is July 2006.

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