MRPL increases ownership in aromatics complex

Feb. 10, 2015
Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL), a subsidiary of Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC), has increased its ownership interest in ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd. (OMPL), an aromatics complex adjacent to and fully integrated with MRPL’s 15 million-tonne/year refinery at Mangalore, India.

Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL), a subsidiary of Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC), has increased its ownership interest in ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd. (OMPL), an aromatics complex adjacent to and fully integrated with MRPL’s 15 million-tonne/year refinery at Mangalore, India.

On Feb. 9, MRPL’s board of directors approved the acquisition of an additional 43% interest in OMPL to raise its ownership stake in the petrochemicals enterprise to 46% from a previous 3%, MRPL said in a Feb.9 notice to India’s BSE Ltd. (formerly Bombay Stock Exchange).

MRPL accomplished the share increase by purchasing fully paid-up equity shares from individual shareholders, the company said.

Prior to the transaction, ONGC and MRPL held a combined interest of 49% in OMPL, with ONGC originally holding a 46% stake in the venture. The remaining 51% equity in OMPL still is to be offered to public, strategic, financial, and retail investors, according to the most recent information available from ONGC.

Last year, MRPL said that it was examining the possibility of increasing its 3% equity stake in OMPL, according to a July 14, 2014, notice filed with BSE.

The OMPL complex produces 900,000 tpy of paraxylene and 270,000-300,000 tpy of benzene using a feedstock of naphtha and other aromatic streams from MRPL’s nearby refinery.

Initially scheduled to be commissioned in 2010, the complex did not begin production until 2014, according to OMPL’s most recent annual report to investors (OGJ Online, May 9, 2008).