India's Essar Oil Ltd is seeking global partners for the supply of crude oil and export of products refined at its 240,000-bpd refinery, which will start operations by 2005, a company spokesman said on Thursday.
The Mumbai-based firm is also looking for a strategic partner to join hands in its plans to expand the refinery in Gujarat to 540,000 bpd.
"Work on our 240,000-bpd refinery is restarting. We are also intensifying work on oil and gas exploration and production acreages and coal-bed methane acreages totalling 14,000 sq km that have been awarded to us," an Essar spokesman told Reuters.
The company has tied up finances to resume construction of the refinery which was stopped because financial problems.
"Essar Oil seeks mutually beneficial strategic alliance or partnerships with companies that have experience in various areas in the upstream and downstream oil and gas sector," he said.
Essar also has plans to set up 1,700-2,000 petrol stations and wants to import fuels until its own refinery is constructed.
It is seeking a global partner for setting up its retail chain, which would offer convenience stores, fast-food and Internet access apart from selling petrol, diesel and lubricants, company officials said.
India, which imports 70 per cent of its crude oil needs, has 17 refineries that can process 2.3 million bpd, which is about 10 per cent more than the domestic demand.
India, once Asia's largest diesel buyer, became an exporter of oil products in the late 1990s when Reliance Industries Ltd set up its 540,000-bpd refinery in Gujarat.
In 2001-02 India exported 2.86 million tonnes of diesel (59,000 bpd) and 2.4 million tonnes of petrol (57,000 bpd). In the current fiscal year ending March 2003, exports are expected to be at the same level.
Excessive capacity and sluggish domestic demand forced companies like Reliance, and the country's largest refiner, state-run Indian Oil Corp, to defer their expansion plans, but industry officials say demand is expected to rise.
After two years of feeble demand, companies expect domestic sales to grow and are again planning expansions.
Reliance is planning to expand capacity by 110,000 bpd, while IOC's largest refinery, also located in Gujarat, has plans to raise its capacity to 360,000 bpd from 270,000 bpd.
