Robert Brelsford
Downstream Technology Editor
India's state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (BPCL) has let a contract to Petrofac Ltd. to provide engineering, procurement, and construction services for a project to increase production of Bharat Stage 6-quality fuels (equivalent to Euro 6) at its refinery near Kochi, at Ambalamugal, Ernakulam district, in the Indian state of Kerala.
Petrofac's scope of work under the 27-month, lump-sum contract includes EPC as well as precommissioning and assistance-with-commissioning services for a new block of motor spirit (MS, gasoline) refining units at Kochi, the service provider said.
While it did not reveal the number or capacities of MS units proposed under the contract, Petrofac did confirm a contract value of about $135 million.
Announcement of the BS 6-quality fuels project follows BPCL's earlier completion and commissioning of all units under the Kochi refinery's integrated expansion project (IREP), which intended to expand crude processing capacity at the refinery to 15.5 million tpy from 9.5 million tpy with the addition of a crude distillation unit, FCCUs, and a delayed coker to enable the production of fuels that meet Europe's latest emissions standards (OGJ Online, July 25, 2017; July 11, 2016).
While BPCL confirmed startup of all units under Kochi's IREP in its latest sustainable development report to interested parties, the operator has yet to verify the refinery has fully reached its new processing capacity of 15.5 million tpy.
According to the latest data available from BPCL, the Kochi refinery reached its highest-ever throughput of 11.787 million tpy in fiscal year 2016-17, while data from India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for January showed the refinery's prorated installed processing capacity for fiscal year 2017-18 at 12.995 million tpy.
BPCL also has undertaken its propylene derivates petrochemical project at Kochi to diversify the refinery's output of niche petrochemicals, which will be produced from polymer-grade propylene supplies resulting from increased crude processing at the site (OGJ Online, Dec. 9, 2014).
The 45.88 billion-rupee PDPP currently is scheduled to be completed in May.
