The Hindu Business Line : BHEL getting more orders from oil sector

Chennai April 15 For a number of years now, BHEL's association with the oil industry has just been to the extent of supplying a few `Christmas tree' valves to exploration and production companies such as ONGC. (True, BHEL was once producing rigs for the public sector oil company, but that business tapered off for various reasons.)

Resurgence in linkage

Now, there is a marked resurgence in BHEL's linkage with the oil industry — and this time around, it is not linked to just the upstream sector.

For example, thanks to a global shortage of supply in rigs, ONGC is willing to buy rigs worth Rs 680 crore from BHEL.

BHEL already has an order for Rs 300 crore for the supply of rigs, which will be manufactured at the company's Hyderabad unit.

Two other orders from the oil sector that BHEL has won recently are precedent setting. One is a Rs 950-crore order for the supply of power equipment to Bharat Oman Refinery Ltd (BORL).

The power project will be the first petroleum coke-fired unit in the country. Petcoke, a refinery residue, is mixed with limestone and fired in the boiler. The sulphur in the fuel forms a compound with calcium, which can be physically removed.

Since almost all refineries face a problem of disposal of residues — in which they have to tackle sulphurous emissions — BORL's unit will be watched and replicated in other places.

The other is a Rs 2,015-crore order for the supply of four sets of 125-MW power project equipment to Sudan. "This type of crude oil is not fired anywhere in the world," says Mr R.N. Misra, Group General Manager, BHEL, who is in charge of Tiruchi unit.

Foolproof design

Crude oil is available aplenty in Sudan. In order to have a foolproof design of the boiler and safe handling of the fuel, BHEL has carried out combustion trials in the liquid fuel test facility at Tiruchi, and at the Indian Institute of Petroleum, Dehradun.

"Successful completion of this project will enable BHEL to put its foot in the African continent in supplying boilers of higher capacity in the coming years," says Mr Misra.

Further, there is a likelihood of BHEL taking over Bharat Plates and Vessels Ltd, a sick public sector unit based at Visakhapatnam.

BPV has done a lot of work for the oil industry and it could be used by BHEL as the platform to enhance its linkage with the oil sector, sources in BHEL say.

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