MRPL posts net loss for 4Q

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) posted a net loss of Rs2.85 billion (US$58.23 million) for the fourth quarter of 2008, the company announced in January. Total quarterly income for MRPL also dropped to Rs75.86 billion (US$1.55 billion) from Rs81.14 billion (US$1.66 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2007. The company operates a 9.69 million metric ton per year (mtpy) or 193,800 barrels per day (bpd) refinery at Mangalore in the southern state of Karnataka, which sells its output to state-owned refiners. The Mangalore refinery’s capacity is being expanded to 15 million mtpy, but MRPL said in December 2008 that tough market conditions and severe cost overruns has forced the completion of the project to be delayed from June 2010 to October 2011. (January 20, 2009)