MUMBAI, November 16: Bharat Oman Refinery (BORL), the joint venture between Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Oman Oil Company, will enter into a fuel-supply arrangement with a cogeneration power plant to be promoted by Hindustan Development Corporation (HDC).

The 6-million-tonne refinery is scheduled to be commissioned in Bina, Madhya Pradesh, by 2001. Bharat Petroleum and Oman Oil will hold 26 per cent each in the project whose current cost is estimated at Rs 7,513 crore.

Bharat Oman Refinery will also have a corresponding arrangement for power and steam supply from the power plant for use by the refinery. The government of Madhya Pradesh has given the go-ahead for setting up the captive/cogeneration power plant.

The refinery will be supported by three linked projects: a marketing terminal to be set up by Bharat Petroleum to distribute the products; the power project based on residual fuel supplied by the refinery being set up by a company promoted by HDC, which will supply power and steam to the refinery; and a product pipeline from Bina-Jhansi-Kanpur being laid by Bharat Petroleum to evacuate a part of the production of the refinery economically to the northern region.

The project will also comprise crude import facilities through a single-point mooring (SPM) system and crude oil-storage terminal (COT) and pumping facilties at Vadinar, Gujarat; a cross-country crude pipeline, 935km long, from Vadinar to Bina; and infrastructure facilities at the refinery as well as COT eg townships, utility hook-ups to battery limits. The SPM/COT facility is proposed to be located at Vadinar in the Gulf of Kutch. The spot is about 11 kilometres off the Vadinar coast in Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) territorial waters. The SPM will receive crude from very large crude carriers (VLCCs) of capacities of up to 2,73,000 DWT (dead weight tonnage).The crude will be received at the COT through 17km long sub-sea/onshore pipelines. The terminal, for which 400 acres of land has been acquired at Vadinar, is being located 200 metres away from Indian Oil Corporation's crude storage terminal at Vadinar.

The advantages of the location are that both the SPM/COT sites are adjacent to those of IOC's, operating for the past 15 years, and also to the proposed sitrs for Reliance Petroleum and Essar Oil. Calm sea conditions prevail during most part of the yar for safe operations of crude unloading. Finally, no dredging is required and adequate water depth of 32 m is available which is comfortable even for VLCCs.

Bharat Oman Refinery has retained Engineers India (EIL) to assist it as project-management consultant for the project. Parsons Group International are helping out in the prequalification of suitable contractors, finalisation of the "invitation to bid" documents, evaluation and award of contracts.

According to analysts, Bharat Oman Refinery would enjoy a locational advantage due to its proximity to its target markets. As there is no other refinery in the vicinity, it would have considerable advantages in a free pricing scenario. The company would also have a stable product mix as the Oil Coordination Committee would be able to assure a continuous supply of crude oil of definite specifications.y

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.