RPL to start exports by month-end

Reliance Petroleum, which recently commenced operations at its refinery in Jamnagar, is now all set to reach export its products. The company expects to dispatch its first parcel of refinery products in January 2009, it said.

The refinery will roll out petroleum products including diesel and some amount of naptha initially. The refinery will initially produce 31 kilo tonne per day of diesel and 5.7 ktpd of naptha among other products, sources added.

The unit can also produce 25 ktpd of petrol, however, it might not sell it initially in the market, sources added.

The refinery will also produce sulfur and petcoke from the first CDU, according to sources.

Reliance Petroleum (RPL) has successfully commenced operations at its complex refinery during the quarter. RPL started its crude processing on December 25, 2008, and achieved successful production of various products, it said in a press statement.

The company has commissioned its first crude distillation unit which has about 50 per cent of the total refining capacity. The second CDU and the polypropylene unit are likely to be operational by March or April this year, sources said.

With an annual crude processing capacity of 580,000 barrels per stream day, RPL will be the sixth-largest refinery in the world. Once fully commissioned, the refinery will make RIL the largest crude oil refining company in India.

In completing the state-of-the-art, globally competitive refinery in just 36 months, from concept to commissioning, the company has set a new global benchmark for building a refinery of this scale and complexity at a time when many large green-field refinery projects that were announced in the world have been facing significant delays extending to years, the release said.

Commenting on the progress of the project, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of RPL, said, "RPL has created history by commissioning the refinery in time. I commend the entire team for this achievement. RPL is well on its way to become the world's largest producer of ultra-clean fuels.

"The competitive advantages of scale and complexity with the world-class skills to operate the facilities with the highest standards of safety and efficiency will create superior value for all its stakeholders."