Project Profile
Value: Undisclosed
Location: Ambalmugal near the city of Kochi in Kerala
Capacity: 9.5 Million Metric Tonnes per Annum (MMTPA)
Start-up year: -
Kochi Refinery, a unit of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), embarked in 1966 with a capacity of 50,000 barrels per day. Formerly known as Cochin Refineries Limited and later renamed as Kochi Refineries Limited, the refinery was originally established as a joint venture in collaboration with Phillips Petroleum Corporation, USA. In 2012 it is a frontline entity as a unit of BPCL. Kochi Refinery, located at Ambalmugal near the city of Kochi in Kerala, is one of the two Refineries of BPCL, presently having a crude oil refining capacity of 9.5 Million Metric Tonnes per Annum (MMTPA). The product portfolio of the 190,000 barrels per day refinery today includes petrochemical feedstocks and specialty products in addition to its range of quality fuels. Fuel products of this fuel based refinery includes Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Naphtha, Motor Spirit, Kerosene, Aviation Turbine Fuel, High Speed Diesel, Fuel Oils and Asphalt. Specialty products for the domestic markets include Benzene, Toluene, Propylene, Special Boiling Point Spirit, Poly Iso Butene and Sulphur. With the prestigious Crude Oil receipt facilities consisting of the Single Point Mooring (SPM) and the associated shore tank farm in place since December 2007, the refinery is equipped to receive crude oil in Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs). This facility helps Kochi refinery in reducing the freight charges to a great extent, over and above increasing flexibility in crude oil selection. This, thereby, is a major infrastructure facility to accelerate the future growth of Kochi Refinery. The refinery has facilities to evacuate products to the consuming centres through road, rail, ships and through pipelines. All the major industries in the area are connected to the refinery for product receipt.
The BPCL installation at Irumpanam, to which the refinery is connected by pipelines, is the major product distribution centre of the refinery. Petronet CCK, a joint venture company of BPCL looks after the 300 km long pipeline that connects the refinery to various consumption points in Tamil Nadu such as Coimbatore and Karur. Of the two-part Capacity Expansion cum Modernisation Project (Phase–II), the capacity expansion to 9.5 MMTPA has been successfully completed and refinery modernisation slated for completion in August 2010 would equip the refinery to produce auto-fuels conforming to Euro-III and partly Euro-IV specifications. The refinery’s foray into direct marketing began since 1993 through marketing of its aromatic products - Benzene and Toluene. The entry into the international petroleum business stream began with its first parcel of Fuel Oil exported in January 2001. Since then the refinery, has earned the reputation as a reliable player in the international trade, by virtue of superior product quality and customer service. Moreover, the Fuel Oil has been benchmarked in the Singapore and Dubai Fuel Oil markets.
BPCL has completed installation and start-up of a clarified oil (CLO) filtration system at the fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU). (July, 2016)
Operators:
BPCL: Operator with 100% interest
Contractors:
Air Products: Build, own, and operate several new industrial gas production facilities to supply industrial gases to BPCL\'s Kochi Refinery
EIL: Engineering consultancy services for Kochi refinery expansion project
Petron Engineering Construction Ltd.: composite mechanical works related to fluid catalytic cracking units (FCCUs)
Shriram EPC Ltd: Services related to an integrated refinery expansion project
Sub-contractors:
Technip: Contract Air Products a contract to provide project management, as well as engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) services for a new industrial gas complex for Kochi Refinery (BPCL-KR)