To maintain high standards of productivity, a number of energy conservation schemes were implemented, which have yielded dividends to the Refinery. Refinery has achieved lowest-ever hydrocarbon loss of 0.40 per cent this year against previous best of 0.52 per cent in 1997. Gujarat Refinery was also honoured with merit certificate for national energy conservation in refining sector by the Ministry of Power.

The award for the best furnace/boiler insulation effectiveness was also conferred on the Refinery by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. While maintaining higher skills of production and productivity, Gujarat Refinery has also achieved a new milestone in the area of industrial safety. In January '99, the Refinery completed 44 million man-hours without any accident.

Refinery expansion project to raise its present capacity from 9.5 MMT to 12.5 MMT is fast progressing. Diesel Hydro De-sulphurisation unit is also under advance stage of completion to produce low sulphur diesel oil.

Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ethyleene unit under implementation will help the Refinery produce lead-free petrol. Revamping of Atmospheric Unit-II and IV is also being done to further enhance refining capacity of Gujarat Refinery.

Quality circles movement: Quality Circle movement is gaining pace in Gujarat Refinery. A total 14 quality circles working in various departments make significant contribution in improving systems and procedures. `Lakshya', `Chakra' and `Kalpataru' quality circles represented Gujarat Refinery in the national convention on quality circles held from December 16 to 20 in Hydrabad. The QC presentation made by `Lakshya' through computer was greatly appreciated by the judges and it secured one of the `Best of Session Awards' - Oral'' amongst 96 contestants from all over the country. Members of `Lakshya' quality circle included N N Patel, G S Chirutkar, V M Parmar, S R Pawar, J K Parikh, G M Solanki, C R Bhatt, S P Desai, S S Kelkar, A K Shrivastava and V Mohan.

Earlier, Lakshya Quality Circle had bagged the rolling trophy in the Gujarat state-level convention on quality circles in September.