The Hindu : Other States / Rajasthan News : Govt. told to expedite setting up of oil refinery

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Sunday, Mar 06, 2005

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Govt. told to expedite setting up of oil refinery

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR, MARCH 5. The Former Rajasthan Chief Minister, Shiv Charan Mathur, has asked the State Government to put forth an attractive package for anyone capable of setting up an oil refinery in the State. The Centre has agreed to all possible support for such a project to make use of the wellhead oil available in Barmer district, he said.

The political squabble over setting up of an oil refinery was serving no purpose and the refinery coming up at Bhatinda in Punjab was not at the cost of Rajasthan, Mr. Mathur said. Rajasthan's claim for a refinery was valid with 300 million tonnes of crude deposits in Barmer-Sanchore Basin and another oil finding in Thumbli Bloc, with an estimated reserve of 30 million tonnes, he said.

"The State Government should not get into needless controversies over the refinery being denied to Rajasthan if it is really serious about setting up one here,'' Mr. Mathur said talking to newspersons here today at the Social Policy Research Institute, of which he is the founder. The State should try to attract an investor either in the private sector or in the joint sector, to make use of the oil reserves, he said. "I had a talk with the Union Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Ayar and he said the Centre would not have any problems in facilitating a refinery provided the State could find an investor," Mr. Mathur revealed.

All the talk by the politicians of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party that the Centre was not cooperating in this matter was politically motivated, Mr. Mathur charged. "I have been authorized to say that the Centre has no problem in allowing Rajasthan to have an oil refinery,'' he stated.

Mr. Mathur termed the debate over the viability of a wellhead refinery unwarranted as Barmer could easily sustain a facility of 5 million tonnes capacity for 20 years. There was more potential for oil in the region as the oil-bearing area in the Cambay Basin stretched upto Samdhari/Sheo in Rajasthan. "The same belt on the other side of the country, in Pakistan, fulfils 10 per cent of that country's gas requirements," Mr. Mathur pointed out.

The quality of crude found in Rajasthan was good as its gravity ranged from 22 API to 52 API against a majority of crude oil finds-- of the gravity of 22-27 API.

Besides, the Kandla-Bhathinda pipeline, proposed to carry crude for the refinery in Bhathinda too passes through the area. In case extra crude was needed the pipeline could be made use of for additional supply, Mr. Mathur suggested.

Citing the projections of Vision 2025, the former Chief Minister said the country needed to increase its refining capacity by 10 million tonnes every year to achieve an additional capacity of 200 million tonnes in the next 20 years.

Rajasthan could have a refinery of the capacity of 6 million tonnes per annum on an investment of Rs.6,000 crores and the economic benefits for the State would be phenomenal, Mr. Mathur said.

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