Integrated refinery expansion project gets environmental clearance

Kochi Refinery Ltd (KRL), which is embarking on big-ticket expansion plans in the southern state of Kerala, has received the crucial green clearance from the Union ministry of environment & forests last month. This will help the company to go ahead with the integrated refinery expansion project (IREP) and plan for downstream projects. Kochi Refinery, a unit of Bharat Petroleum Ltd (BPCL), currently has a refining capacity of 9.5 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa ) to produce Euro-III and IV compliant auto-fuels and various other petroleum products.

Petronet LNG has gained 31.5 per cent since the closing lows of Rs 122.77 in May. The rise comes on the back of benefits accruing to the company from the steady rise in demand for gas. The supply, however, has been limited, given the falling production from the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin.

The company’s volumes have risen 6.3 per cent to 135 trillion British thermal units (TBTU), or 2.6 million tonnes, in the September quarter, as compared to 127 TBTU in the June quarter. The company has 10 mtpa capacity at Dahej (Gujarat) and is likely to commission its five mtpa Kochi plant by the March 2013 quarter. However, in the absence of a proper pipeline infrastructure, the contribution from Kochi could remain limited to one mtpa, analysts say. Thus, the benefits from the new capacities will not accrue in the near term.

Though the work at 5-MTPA Kochi terminal is likely to be completed in the current fiscal (FY13), the non-availability of pipeline infrastructure will limit the benefits

Petronet LNG has gained more than 32 per cent since the closing lows of Rs 122.77 in May 2012. The rise comes on the back of benefits accruing to the company from the steady rise in demand for gas. The supply, however, has been limited given the falling production from the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin. The company’s volumes have risen 6.3 per cent to 135 Trillion British Thermal Units (TBTU), or 2.6 MT (million tonnes), in the September 2012 quarter, as compared to 127 TBTU in the June 2012 quarter.

Appoints Foster Wheeler as consultant to prepare project report

Even as domestic gas production has fallen 8 per cent, Oil India Ltd (OIL) is planning to set up a liquefied natural gas ( LNG) receiving terminal in India. The company plans to set up a 2.5-million tonne (mt) capacity terminal. According to an industry executive in the know, Geneva-based Foster Wheeler AG has been appointed consultant to prepare a project report for the foray into imported gas. When asked, Ananth Kumar, director (finance), Oil India, confirmed the appointment of a consultant about a fortnight ago, but did not divulge the name, citing a confidentiality clause in the contract.

The Poorna river, passing through Tripunithura, has become a dumpyard of organic, toilet and slaughter house wastes. Sensing the environmental damages caused by the pollutants, the Balagokulam Kochi Mahanagaram members have come forward against the practice on the river on which the ‘Thoni Ezhunelipu’ ritual, held as part of Poornathrayeesha temple fest, is being conducted.

“The ‘Thonni Kadavu’, situated in the western part of the river, is the most affected area. Sewage from Kochi Corporation and Tripunithura Municipal area are being directed to the ‘Kadavu’. This spoils the sanctity of the river,” said K G Sreekumar, district president of Balagokulam Kochi Mahanagaram.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has cleared Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited’s Kochi refinery expansion, paving the way for the facility here to become the largest public sector refinery in the country.

Completion of the Integrated Refinery Expansion Project will take the capacity of the refinery to 15.5 million tonnes a year from the current level of 9.5 million tonnes.

The wait for the east coast to have a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal might get longer, with Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC), the two state-run companies that had proposed to jointly develop a terminal in Mangalore, putting the plan on hold.

Senior executives in both companies say how far the two partners could sell the fuel in the domestic market is under doubt. Given that the Dabhol and Kochi terminals will be commissioned next year, Mangalore will be well-connected by pipelines, said a senior BPCL executive, who requested anonymity.

Sultanate of Oman became the first country to ban poultry products from India since avian influenza commonly known as bird flu was reported a week ago from Bangalore.

The slow pace of laying of the inter-state pipeline, and the delays in signing up for marketing tie-ups for the sale of natural gas is likely to delay the commissioning of the Petronet LNG Terminal at Puthuvype near here.

The project was earlier scheduled to be completed by the year-end and later re-scheduled to next January. But the inordinate delay in marketing arrangements and in the pipeline work on Kochi-Mangalore and Kochi-Bangalore stretches now face serious concerns not only on the commissioning, but even the viability of the Rs 4,300 crore project. The terminal is ready to receive LNG by January, 2013. Phase II of the 900 km GAIL pipeline to Mangalore and Bangalore which involves an investment of Rs 3,400 crore is badly held up, said top officials of the Cochin Port Trust (CPT), GAIL and Petronet LNG

Central project was in limbo for two years

A Union government project to make Thiruvananthapuram a ‘Solar City’ is showing signs of revival. The project lay dormant for two years, until the last Corporation Council meeting. The Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy had decided to make Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi ‘Solar Cities’ under the 11th Five Year Plan.