Essar Oil mulls option of reviving petrochemical complex project at Vadinar refinery

08-Aug-16

Essar Oil is weighing the option of reviving its petrochemical complex project with an investment of around US$1-1.5 bln. An additiona lRs.1200 crore is being planned to get invested over the next two-to-three years to upgrade its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat to boost refinery margins by US$1.5 per barrel. The move comes when the company is in talks with Russia’s state-owned petroleum explorer Rosneft to sell over 49% stake in Essar Oil, according to an announcement made by the two companies in July 2015.

Essar Oil which runs a 20 mln tpa capacity refinery at Vadinar in Gujarat, has already earmarked and acquired land which around 5km away from the refinery to develop a petrochemical complex that would produce gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and propylene among other products.

“We do have a plan to set up a petrochemical complex near Vadinar. The proposed project would include a 5 million ton a year fluid catalytic cracker costing US$1-1.5 bln. We cannot talk much about this as the project is yet to be approved by the company’s board,” Lalit Kumar Gupta, managing director and chief executive officer of Essar Oil, said, adding, "The proposed complex, if finalized, may also house a polypropylene plant at a later stage looking at the demand that is growing by 10-15% per annum". The petrochemical project would take shape once the Rosneft deal is through which is expected soon.