Indian Oil included 36 new grades in FY23 to expand crude basket

Indian Oil included 36 new grades in FY23 to expand crude basket

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) expanded its crude oil basket by adding 36 new grades from Africa, the Middle East and Russia in FY23, the company said.

The move allows Indian Oil to enhance its crude basket in order to deliver a wider range of feedstock and optimise its refining processes to produce high-quality petroleum products efficiently, the company said in its annual report for the financial year 2022-23.

“Through these initiatives, we are committed to fulfilling the country’s growing demand for POL products, enhancing energy security and contributing to the nation’s economic development,” said IOCL.

The state-run oil refiner intends to increase its share in India’s energy pie to 12.5 percent by 2050 from the current 9 percent.

To achieve the company’s net-zero targets, Indian Oil plans investment of around $30 billion (or Rs 30,000 crore) till 2046. To meet the set targets, the company said emission mitigation pathways such as green hydrogen, biofuels, renewables, carbon offsetting, and Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) are already underway.

Indian Oil plans to expand its refining capacity to meet the growing demands for petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL) in the country. The company said its approved projects will significantly increase crude oil refining capacity from the current 70.05 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) to 87.9 MMTPA by 2026.

In the petchem segment, Indian Oil has set a target to achieve 8.2 MMTPA of petrochemical manufacturing volume by 2026-27 from current production capacity of 4.1 MMTPA.

Meanwhile, the oil marketing company aims to enhance its petrochemical capacity to 15 MMTPA and increase the Petrochemical Intensity Index from 5.9 percent to 15 percent by 2029-30. Indian Oil would invest in various projects that are currently in different stages of implementation to achieve growth in the petrochemicals sector.

Indian Oil also aims to increase its upstream integration ratio to 10 percent by the year 2030 from the current 5.3 percent. To enhance energy security and reduce import dependence, the company has set a production target of 9.68 MMTPA by 2029-30, from its current production of 4.27 MMTPA in 2022-23.

“We also remain focused on participating in domestic exploration bid rounds, collaborating with major National Oil Companies (NOCs) and International Oil Companies (IOCs), exploring newly discovered areas, optimising capital expenditure in existing assets and acquiring new producing assets,” the company added.