DRILL time

New Delhi, Oct. 3: The export-oriented refinery of Reliance Industries at Jamnagar is likely to be commissioned within a month, with test runs beginning in the next few days.

This is the second Reliance refinery at Jamnagar.

“We could reach full capacity within days of starting production. We will do it in phases. If everything goes well, we hope to repeat the first refinery’s commissioning which was done in days because we did not have any problem,” the official said. The first refinery was commissioned in 1999.

Reliance Petroleum, in which Reliance Industries has a 70 per cent stake, has set up the refinery which will produce 580,000 barrels per day. The refinery was built at an investment of $6 billion.

Fuel from this refinery will be mainly exported to the US and European markets. The two refineries of Reliance will produce 24 million tonnes (mt) of diesel and 10mt of petrol.

Reliance Industries president (refinery business) P. Raghavendran said production from the facility would partly alleviate the global shortage of refining products and could have a sobering effect on international oil prices.

“The two refineries at Jamnagar will become the single largest source of jet fuel, gasoline (petrol) and diesel for the global markets. This will reduce the pressure on prices by adding volume,” Raghavendran said. Petrol and diesel from the facility will be of Euro-IV grade, to be upgraded to Euro-V grade later. The grades are environmental standards.

IOC plea

Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Sarthak Behuria said oil companies had asked the government to amend the law to enable firms to buy diesel from Reliance.

“We have appealed to the government to do away with double taxation on products bought from Reliance’s refinery,” Behuria said.

He said the oil companies needed 2.5mt of diesel during the remaining part of the fiscal. If tax laws were changed, the oil companies would save Rs 600-700 crore.