Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 47 2021
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AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec
partner for investments in the private sector in
India and will collaborate with Saudi Aramco & and petrochemical products to create secure
SABIC for investments in Saudi Arabia”. and competitive energy sources for the Indian
market.”
It highlighted that the “strategic alliance”
Strategic shift would likely leverage the Saudi firm’s Aramco
Aramco has a long-stated aim of achieving a Trading Co. (ATC) subsidiary as well as ONGC’s
global refining slate of 8-10mn bpd and it has Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd.
developed several international joint ventures (MRPL), ONGC Petro-additions Ltd. (OPaL)
(JVs) aimed at increasing guaranteed markets and ONGC Mangalore Petrochemicals Ltd.
for its upstream production – or dedicated crude (OMPL) affiliates.
outlets as it calls them. This was to have played an ATC has grown rapidly since it was estab-
important role in the Reliance deal with Aramco lished a decade ago, while the ONGC subsidi-
to have supplied 500,000 bpd of crude feedstock aries boast significant downstream processing
to Jamnagar following the deal. capabilities. MRPL is dedicated to the operation
At year-end 2020, it had a gross refining of a 300,000 bpd refinery of the same name in
capacity of 6.4mn bpd and a net capacity of Karnataka State while OMPL operates 1.2mn
3.6mn bpd and according to consultancy IGM tpy of paraxylene and benzene facilities that are
Energy, those figures are now averaging around integrated with MRPL.
6.7mn bpd and 3.8mn bpd, largely owing to the OPaL is a JV with GAIL (India) Ltd and Guja-
gradual commissioning of the Jazan refinery on rat State Petroleum Corp. (GSPC) which owns
Saudi’s Red Sea coast. and operates a 3.7mn tpy world-scale petro-
With one move, the deal with Reliance chemicals complex at Dahej in Gujarat.
would have increased Aramco’s gross partic- While the details of potential offtake agree-
ipated refining capacity to 8.6mn bpd and its ments are yet to be agreed, MRPL alone would
net refining capacity to 4.3mn bpd once Jazan take Aramco’s gross participated refining capac-
reaches its 400,000 bpd capacity and the troubled ity to 7.1mn bpd with the petrochemical units
Pengerang Petrochemical Co. (PRefChem) facil- likely to receive products refined by the Saudi
ity in Malaysia is finally commissioned. firm’s domestic facilities.
However, if successful, the talks with ONGC Meanwhile, both announcements included
will likely compensate for some of the reduction, future-looking statements that suggest Aramco
with the Indian firm saying the parties would will collaborate with the Indian firms on clean
explore “long-term supply contracts for the energies, with hydrogen and renewables likely to
sale and purchase of crude, refined petroleum features in any such developments.
Week 47 24•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P5
