MRPL becomes largest single location refinery in India

The Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), a mini-Ratna CPSE PSU refinery based in coastal Karnataka and a subsidiary of ONGC, has become the single largest PSU-refinery (single location) in the country for the year 2022-23, a release from the company said here Wednesday. MRPL achieved this feat by processing 17.14 million metric tonnes of crude oil during the past financial year.

This is also the highest-ever throughput processed by any single-location PSU refinery in India’s petroleum refining history, the release said. MRPL processes 10 per cent of the total crude oil refined by the PSU petroleum refineries in the country. Set up as a joint venture refinery in 1988 with a 3.69 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum) capacity, MRPL later underwent a second and third-phase expansion to raise its capacity to 15 MMTPA.

The refinery configuration has a Nelson Complexity Index of 11.3, one of the highly complex PSU refineries. The MRPL petrochemical intensity is currently at 9.5 per cent, aiming to reach 15 per cent in the medium term. The Nelson Complexity Index (NCI) refers to the types of petroleum products can be produced by a refinery. Measured on a scale from 1 to 20, the higher the value on the NCI, the more sophisticated and complex products the refinery can produce.

As for petrochemical intensity, it refers to the percentage of crude oil converted directly into chemicals used to make plastic and other materials. MRPL can process more than 250 different types of crude from around the world. Crudes from the Middle East, South Asia, Europe, Russia, Africa, South America and the US are the major ones processed in the MRPL. MRPL is capable of producing almost a full range of petroleum products like naphtha, LPG, motor spirit, high-speed diesel, kerosene, aviation turbine fuel, sulphur, xylene, bitumen, along with pet coke and polypropylene. In recent times, the MRPL has taken significant steps to build its petrochemical profile.
Its 440 KTA Novolen gas-phase polypropylene plant can produce a complete range of homopolymer grades. Its aromatic complex can produce 0.905 MMTPA of para xylene and 0.273 MMTPA of benzene. The aromatic complex is in the Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) and fully integrated with the MRPL. The MRPL has ambitious plans for the retail business and it has initiated steps to expand its coveted RO brand HiQ in 1000 locations in South India in the near future, the release said. MRPL Managing Director Sanjay Varma said the company has made a strong bounce back after effectively countering the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic.

“With the support of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MOPNG) and our parent organisation ONGC and through the dedicated efforts of all stakeholders, MRPL is now poised to reach greater heights in the days to come,” he said in the release.