ONGC, BPCL looking forward for foreign assistance for new refineries

New Delhi: According to news reports, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) are independently seeking a foreign partner for the greenfield petroleum refineries they intend to establish.

The oil firms cited through sources that they are in communication with Saudi Arabia. Although the idea has not yet taken off, the state-run energy corporation of the West Asian nation, Saudi Aramco, had previously committed to partner in the west coast refinery in Maharashtra.

At a cost of between Rs 70,000 crore and Rs 1 lakh crore, ONGC and BPCL independently intend to build a 12 mmtpa (million metric tons per annum) oil refinery each.

While ONGC may choose to locate its refinery in Gujarat or Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, BPCL has selected Andhra Pradesh. This would mark the establishment of a refinery by oil exploration company ONGC for the first time. For the companies, Engineers India is preparing a pre-feasibility study.

According to the earlier-cited reports, Aramco’s president of downstream, Mohammed Al Qahtani, and chief executive officer, Amin Nasser, met with Pankaj Jain, the petroleum secretary, and executives from ONGC and BPCL last month at the company’s headquarters in Dhahran.

In Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat, state-run energy corporations are to establish refineries, according to the government. Companies will unavoidably need an overseas partner because the investment will be enormous—roughly Rs 1 lakh crore each,” an official said.