IndianOil to build more crude oil tanks at Adani’s Mundra port

IndianOil will expand its existing crude oil tank farm at Mundra Port of APSEZ, thus enabling it to handle and blend additional 10 MMTPA of crude oil at Mundra.

This will support IOCL to expand its Panipat Refinery (Haryana). Adani Ports said in a statement that IOCL is increasing the capacity of its Panipat Refinery by 66 per cent to 25 MMPTA to meet the rapidly growing energy needs of India.

“Mundra Port is a major economic gateway serving the northern hinterland of India by providing multimodal connectivity. It gives us immense pride to further strengthen our partnership and support IOCL, which ensures the energy security of the nation. IOCL as a reliable long term partner, APSEZ is well equipped to handle additional 10 MMTPA of crude oil in our existing Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) at Mundra.” Karan Adani, CEO and Whole Time Director, APSEZ said.

IndianOil, which accounts for nearly half of India’s petroleum products market share, has a refining capacity of 80.55 MMTPA and a pipeline network of over 15,000 km. A part of the current crude oil requirement of 15 MMTPA for IOCL’s Panipat Refinery is handled at SBM at Mundra Port.

Mundra SBM is located 3-4 km from the coast where Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) unload crude. An undersea pipeline transports this crude oil from the SBM to the Crude Oil Tank Farm and then through the Mundra Panipat Pipeline (MPPL) to the refinery at Panipat.

IndianOil is currently operating a crude oil tank farm in a special area in the Mundra Special Economic Zone of Adani with 12 tanks with a total capacity of 720,000 KL. With the addition of 9 new tanks, the storage capacity will increase to 1,260,000 KL, making Mundra Port the largest ever port based crude oil storage facility for IOCL.

With this the MPPL pipeline capacity will be increased to 17.5 MMTPA by IOCL. Adani Ports said the IOCL board had in December 2021 approved capital expenditure of Rs 9000 crore for crude oil tanks and MPPL augmentation.

This expansion project at Mundra Port underscores the state-run IOCL’s trust in APSEZ, which it has earned through its strategic vision of modernizing its ports, improving turnaround times, and thus creating value for its customers, The company said.