BPCL planning to go ahead with Bina refinery expansion without Oman Oil

(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) With Oman Oil Co (OOC) reluctant to put more money into its joint venture Bina refinery project in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh its chief partner Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) has decided to fund the nearly R200bn (RO1.2bn) expansion of the refinery on its own an Indian media report said.

BPCL India's second-biggest state refiner is planning to raise the refinery's capacity to 15mn tonnes in two phases - to 7.8mn tonnes a year from the current 6mn tonnes at a cost of R35bn by 2018 and then to 15mn tonnes at an additional investment of R180bn-R200bn in five to six years.

OOC holds a 26 per cent stake in the Bharat Oman Refineries Ltd (BORL) joint venture which owns the Bina refinery while BPCL holds a 49 per cent stake in the project. The remaining 25 per cent stake is with financial institutions.

OOC is willing to participate in the first-phase expansion but not the second phase a top official of BPCL was quoted by the Press Trust of India news agency as saying. "We are close to firming up plans to go ahead with the second-phase expansion on our own. BPCL will fund the project."