Relocation of oil facilities not easy

Relocating oil installations to distant places is not an easy task, senior officials in the oil industry in Chennai, India said. In response to a query relating to a recent fire at the Jaipur depot of Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), Chennai Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (CPCL) Managing Director K. K. Acharya said that when the company’s refinery in Manali (near Chennai) was established in 1969, there were no residential colonies nearby. But with the growth and development of the refinery and several other companies in the Manali industrial belt, the area has become thickly populated. IOC Chairman Sarthak Behuriasaid two committees had been constituted to look into the causes of the fire and evaluate safety measures to avoid such incidents. (November 7, 2009)