BPCL signs pacts with OIL, NRL, FACT

India's state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp on Tuesday signed three agreements at an industry event, including one with Oil India to build a 1-trillion-rupees ($11.38 billion) greenfield refinery and petrochemical complex in Andhra Pradesh.

BPCL also partnered with Numaligarh Refinery and Oil India on a 35-billion-rupee cross-country pipeline, and with Fertilisers & Chemicals Travancore to market organic fertilisers from its Kochi biogas plant.

Chairman Sanjay Khanna said Oil India is considering taking a 10%-20% stake in the planned southern India refinery, and BPCL is seeking additional partners for the project.

The proposed refinery, with a capacity of 9 million tonnes to 12 million tonnes a year, has received key statutory approvals and 6,000 acres of land from the Andhra Pradesh government, with pre-project work underway, BPCL said in a statement.

The Ramayapatnam petrochemical complex will feature a 1.5-million-tonne ethylene cracker and is expected to start commercial operations by fiscal 2030.

BPCL, Oil India and Numaligarh Refinery (NRL) will also build a 700-km pipeline from Siliguri to Mughalsarai via Muzaffarpur, following NRL’s capacity expansion to 9 million tonnes a year.

The pipeline will carry petrol, diesel and jet fuel, with BPCL holding 50% and Oil India and NRL sharing the rest.

BPCL's deal with Fertilisers & Chemicals Travancore entails supplying and trading organic manure from its upcoming biogas plant in Brahmapuram, in the state of Kerala.

The facility will convert municipal solid waste into compressed biogas and organic fertilisers.

BPCL is India's second-biggest state refiner, with 706,000 barrels per day of crude capacity across three refineries.