BPCL expanded facilities dedicated to nation

KOCHI: The Expanded Capacity and Modernised Facilities of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Kochi Refinery, was on Friday dedicated to the nation.Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas S Jaipal Reddy, while dedicating the facilities, said with the expansion the refining capacity of BPCL had been enhanced to 9.5 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum from the present 7.5 MMTPA that would cater to the increased petroleum product demand of the region.He said the refining capacity in the country was likely to be increased to more than  230 MMTPA by 2012-13. "The refining capacity in the country presently increased by more than three times to 193.98 MMTPA from 62 MMTPA in 1998,’’ he said. Reddy also said that the total refining capacity of the BPCL group now stood at 30.5 MMTPA with the current upgradation of the Kochi Refinery.Noting that there were plans for the extension of Bharat Stage- IV petrol and diesel to 50 more cities in phases by 2015, he said it would bring the quality of oil in the country at par with Europe.  On the hike in petro prices, Reddy attributed it to the depreciation of the rupee and the Oil Marketing Companies’ (OMC) under-recovery of over Rs 1,21,000 crore in 2011-12."The OMCs are currently suffering under-recoveries to the tune of Rs 272 crore per day,’’ he said. "No oil minister in the world ever wants to increase the price of oil. The average price of the Indian basket of crude oil, which was 69.76 dollar per barrel in 2009-10 is hovering around 111 dollar per barrel so far. There are no signs of the prices going down in the global market,’’ he said.Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said the Capacity Expansion and Modernisation project of BPCL  at a cost of `4,000 crore was one of the largest investments in the state. Finance Minister K M Mani and P Rajeev MP, who spoke at the function, asked the Union Minister to look into the rising oil prices, which was a real burden to the common man. They also asked for a relook into authorising the oil companies in fixing the prices.BPCL Chairman and Managing Director R K Singh said that the newly-commissioned project at the BPCL would help in improving the fuel quality and reduce environmental pollution. The refinery is presently fully equipped to make Euro-111 grade petrol and diesel conforming to Euro-IV standards.