Essar's Vadinar expansion plan Phase I

Essar Oil (EOL) would co­mplete Phase I of the ongoing expansion project at the Vadinar oil refinery in 2012. Acc­ording to Shashi Ruia, Chairman, the refinery was already operating well above its nameplate capacity of 10.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa). It achieved a throughput of 14.76 mt in 2010-11, a capacity utilisation of over 140 per cent – its highest-ever. After the Phase I expansion, its refining capacity will go up to 18 mtpa. As on June 30, almost 92 per cent of the work on the expa­nsion project was completed. The optimisation project, ab­out 56 per cent completed by now, would further enhance the capacity to 20 mtpa.

Completion of Phase I expansion will also enhance the complexity of the refinery from 6.1 to 11.8, enabling it to increase the proportion of heavy and ultra-heavy crude that it processes, produce a higher proportion of middle and light dis­tillates and improve the gross refining margin (GRM). The project will be completed fully by September 2012, according to the Chairman.