MRPL starts refining Barmer crude

This will help MRPL reduce its dependence on imported low-sulphur crude significantly
Noor Mohammad Delhi Hardnews

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) began processing crude from Cairn India's Rajasthan fields on Friday. This will help reduce its dependence on imported low-sulphur crude significantly. MRPL is a subsidiary of state-run ONGC.

The first parcel of about 29,000 tonnes (2,08,000 barrels) of crude was formally taken in the New Mangalore Port on Friday, MRPL sources told Hardnews. Cairn India's Barmer crude will help reduce MRPL's imports of low-sulphur crude like Nile Blend, Sokol and Nigerian grades which the company imports from spot market.

This is a major landmark for the producer, too. "Cairn India on behalf of the Rajasthan joint venture is delighted to deliver the first crude oil cargo from its Mangala fields to MRPL marking a landmark event towards enhancing India's energy security," Cairn India spokesman told Hardnews.

Cairn India had sold the first cargo to MRPL earlier this month and the shipment left Kandla Port in Gujarat on October 5 on a Singapore-flagged vessel named Cougar. The Barmer block has three main fields - Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya. Production from the three fields will plateau at 1,75,000 barrels per day, or 8.75 million tonnes per year, in 2011.

Cairn India holds 70 per cent operating interest in the RJ-ON-90/ 1 block while the rest is with ONGC. Cairn and ONGC will together invest $4 billion on developing these three fields by 2011. Investment in Mangala field - the biggest of the three - alone is $2.431 billion and its output is expected to reach 1,25,000 barrels a day by the first half of 2010.