Numaligarh plans expansion

Numaligarh Refinery Ltd., a subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., has decided to invest Rs3 billion (US$68.26 million) to upgrade the diesel fuel hydrocracker unit by replacing the existing Euro II diesel production capacity. The commissioning of the project is expected to commence in 2007-2008. The project is part of the Rs 6.25 billion (US$142.22 million) investment plan, which will also hike diesel fuel production capacity by 30%. The refinery produces 1.856 million tons of diesel fuel. Numaligarh Refinery has decided to join the joint venture with Assam Gas Co., with a stake of 40% in the Rs3.5-billion (US$79.64 million) pipeline project from Dhuliajan facility of Oil India Ltd. to Numaligarh. Numaligarh Refinery has decided to replace the naphtha feedstock in the hydrogen plant and the 37 MW captive power plant by natural gas. This will not only reduce the operational cost of the plant, but also increase the exportable surplus of naphtha. (January 30, 2007)