Venezuela'sa national oil company PdVSA is iconsidering acquisition of 49% stake in IndianOil Corporation's 15 mln ton refinery at Paradip, Orissa. IOC seeks partners in the Rs 30,000 crore project to add some value to the project. PdVSA could supply Venezuelan crude to the refinery.
This partnership with India could take Venezuela in an advantageous position to help achieve its strategy of adding value to its crude for higher returns and diversifying its oil economy. Venezuela currently exports 2 million bpd of its heavy crude to USA and 300,000 bpd to China.
PdVSA has been in talks with PetroVietnam and Malaysia's Petronas for setting up a refinery in Asia by 2012-13. Venezuela is considering setting up an integrated refining-and-petrochemicals complex in South Asia to process its heavy crude. Though in its early stages, there are other factors that could work for the PdVSA deal. Venezuelan crude is one of the toughest to process and needs refineries with high complexity ratings. IndianOil has designed the Paradip unit to accept the toughest, heaviest and the dirtiest crudes. India also offers strategic locational advantage from where exports can even happen to as far as USA.
03-Jul-08 
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